Onigen
by Mariah Bryant
Summary: Only a few years after Naraku was defeated, Sesshomaru - who was in love with young Rin - encounters a woman from his past ... one who once held his future and his soul in an iron grasp. As a result of her reappearance, everyone he loves might die.
1. The Crying at Night

Dearest Readers,

This story was written in less than a week. I edited it not for spelling and grammar mistakes but for slowness, cheese, and un-character-like behavior. I had a lot of help from Alexa Massey: queen of Naruto fanfictions, fantastic loves scenes, and drawing hair! Then the story simply sat around for a long time. I can't remember if it was much good. :D I bet it is, though! (Do skewer me if I mess up with portraying Sesshomaru. I deserve to be skewered if I did so. But only be as mean as is called for! You're not perfect, either, and Sesshomaru is very VERY hard to portray!) I hope you like it as well! Again, this story was based on a dream. An incredibly realistic dream where I woke up convinced the next morning that there was, in fact, a dog demon next to a lake. Which lake, I do not know. There are two within a mile of me. And a creek. XD

Oh, and while I have watched every English dubbed episode of Inuyasha thus yet known to mankind, I will not allow myself to see the Final Act episodes! I am saving myself for Richard Cox! So get over it! In MY Fanfiction, Sesshomaru has ONE ARM! :P

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Onigen | Mariah Bryant

_The Crying at Night_

Rin loved Jaken, despite him. She adjusted her hair, hoping to prevent it from touching her, while she mused over his sleeping form. Even in his sleep his voice was annoying. It was still ringing in Rin's ears. Still. She adored him. He did care for her.

A small tear came to her eye. There was a problem.

She willed herself not to look, but her will did not win. She stole a glance at where Lord Sesshomaru had lain back against a tree. His chin touched his chest. He seemed to be sleeping. He probably had a vague idea that he was being examined, though. Rin knew that she could never keep a secret. She was an open and lithe girl.

Her lips trembled.

Apparently that wasn't the best she could be for him. If it was, he would have given her a sign by then. Right?

Sesshomaru jerked.

Rin sat up slowly. Something ominous surrounded her, feeling almost like Kouga's wolf-demon gang. Her ears were ringing not with Jaken's voice … but a far more beautiful sound.

Sesshomaru's eyes opened with a few graceful blinks. He focused on the distance beyond the trees above.

The sound was of a woman's crying.

"Lord Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru's kind eyes came to rest on his companion. For a moment, there was wonder on his face. Then it disappeared. "Go to sleep, Rin. We will not disturb what does not concern us."

Rin pouted. "What if she comes closer and I am unable to sleep?"

Sesshomaru did not hesitate a second. "I will kill her," he replied simply.

Rin gazed into Sesshomaru's eyes for a few long moments, and he stared back. Rin was simply amazed. Dazed but content, she lay back down. Sesshomaru was only a few feet away. It made her heart pound.

Jaken was prattling on about breakfast. He wanted to go to the stream and get fish. But he didn't want to ask. So he mused aloud about it.

Rin wished he would be quiet. She was in a rather sour mood.

She was thirteen. Could Lord Sesshomaru not see that she loved him? She could express it well enough with her new body. It wasn't hard to overlook her, she knew, but she was one of two women in the forest – and the only one who was visible to Sesshomaru at the moment.

Sesshomaru strode silently, staring ahead at nothing. It was not a glare at nothing. It was more like a gesture toward the nothingness that told it of his musing over it. It was a polite thing to do – to let the nothingness know that.

Rin looked up at him with longing clear in her eyes.

Jaken huffed.

Rin closed her eyes for a long time, walking blind in a generally straight line. When she reopened them, she had decided to be herself again that day. Trying to be sexy was too much work for a young girl.

She _was_ nearing marrying age, though.

"Guess what I did yesterday, Jaken?" she chirped.

Jaken froze, stunned. "Um, nothing?"

Rin shook her head lightly and smiled at the little green fellow. "When I was hunting yesterday for lunch, I had left at a good time, you know? The springtime is so lovely around noon. I had known I would see many pretty things. This late in spring, all of the flowers have bloomed and all of the trees have baby leaves. Well, I never expected…"

Sesshomaru's eyes were sad. He pretended to be intent on what he was looking. He was wearing is normal frown to hide the sadness his mouth would have betrayed.

Rin was such a happy girl. She always put Jaken and himself before herself. He could tell that things were bothering her … things with which he could not get involved. He wanted to help. He knew he would, as always, be interpreted the wrong way. Still, Rin was trying to make it seem as if she was fine. She was telling a detailed story about how she had stumbled upon a nest of butterflies while out on her hunt. She sounded so happy. It made Sesshomaru consider that, perhaps, his making her hunt alone was a good thing.

The poor, delight of a girl would be gone before Sesshomaru would blink. It was horrible.

That was part of the reason Sesshomaru was going in this bogus direction: to find Kagome. She had somehow mastered time and had not aged for over three years. Inuyasha had not worried in a long time about losing her. Perhaps they had used the Shikon Jewel. It made sense to Sesshomaru that if Kagome was using the Jewel to sustain her youth, she could transfer some of that to Rin. A priestess was about transferring energy, correct?

Rin was too young to be made to stop aging … if Sesshomaru wanted her as his wife. He wasn't sure, however, that his want was such. His truest want was that she would never lose herself to fear or strife. Maybe she wouldn't if she didn't fear for her life.

Rin was too smart to trust fully that she would be safe whenever she was with Sesshomaru. There were still things in the world which Sesshomaru valued above her.

Like his father, for instance.

Rin knew that well. His demonic heart and the strings attached were more important than his human friend was. She did not blame him at all. She wished that she, though, could be his demonic mate.

As usual, there was a demon in the path ahead. Sesshomaru did not worry. It was not great enough to attempt attacking his party.

Jaken began to reprimand Rin, saying that butterflies were everywhere and that she was a stupid girl attracted to shiny, colorful things when the whole world was full of color. Sesshomaru wished Jaken would shut up. He really appreciated his friend, but Jaken was out-of-line when it came to Rin. If Sesshomaru ever had the mind to tell Jaken about his feelings about Rin – which he didn't even think in terms of 'telling' – he was certain Jaken would never again have the courage to discourage her.

Sesshomaru felt his ears tingling. They wanted to twitch. He would not allow it.

His eyes pierced through the trees to a slight clearing ahead where the creek had once expanded into a swamp. He was a half-mile away from the demon. The demon was engaged in a rough battle; Sesshomaru's ears said so. He could also see the movement through the thick foliage. And he could hear the demon's hissing.

There were no other demons around. No priestesses. No monks. No witches.

What was the demon fighting?

Jaken scoffed in his high, scratchy voice. "Could it be a _human _that the demon is fighting?" Sesshomaru almost appeared shocked when Jaken came to this conclusion.

It was strange how Jaken, even short and clumsy and beaked, could always lock onto whatever Sesshomaru was musing over at the time.

A human?

Jaken froze. Sesshomaru made no physical reply. Rin was apprehensive but unaware.

A surge of power ripped through the forest. After a moment, it dissipated. The leaves sparkled a little more.

In that moment, the opponent had become a human-looking blob to Sesshomaru's senses. A very small human, too. Then it was gone. The human had simply disappeared. So had any demonic aura or … a powerful aura at all. The being was gone.

Jaken began walking again, catching up to Sesshomaru. "That demon had been so weak before," Jaken muttered quickly. "Perhaps we should investigate, my Lord? Perhaps he has business with you. Though I couldn't imagine _why _such a pitiful demon who has not yet won against a _human _would _ever _think to invade your consciousness…"

"That demon is too weak to have produced that wave."

Unthinkingly, Rin's small hand grasped Sesshomaru's robes. When she had done it as a smaller girl, it had been harmless. Nowadays, Sesshomaru could have blushed.

"The _human _couldn't possible have done it," Jaken gasped.

Sesshomaru had long been hearing voices. One was the low, cracking, hissing voice of a demon. It was not a particularly weak demon. It was fairly large – as large as Aun, who had taken to the sky to see if Kagome was in the village to avoid wasted days – and resembled a scorpion from the Continent. There were also strong cat qualities.

The other was high and strong – stronger than the demon's. It belonged to a woman. A woman who was attempting to be confident. An unsure, burdened woman.

Her enchanting voice had been the source of the sobbing from the night.

Sesshomaru let out a heavy sigh. "Are you deaf, Jaken? This woman is hardly human. She is a half-demon." Sesshomaru tried not to look as perplexed as he was.

"Like Inuyasha?" Jaken exclaimed. "But this person has no demonic aura!"

_I know that_, Sesshomaru thought back. _I doubt I'm wrong, though._

Rin giggled. "Good! I was getting worried. No one like Inuyasha is a threat."

As the group neared the clearing, Jaken and Rin could also hear the sounds. Rin was the first to state the obvious: the woman wasn't speaking Japanese.

Sesshomaru looked indifferent. He was doing a fantastic job of distracting himself and ignoring the battle. He was going to pass by without looking. (Keeping Rin to his left and the battle to his right, of course.)

Then he made sense of the words he couldn't understand. The language was not familiar to him because the woman wasn't speaking a language.

"_ELLITECVESCOTCH!" _

Jaken stopped. This time it was Rin who tripped … over Jaken with her newly long legs.

This surge made Sesshomaru's next step a short one. Jaken cried out, holding onto Rin.

Sesshomaru watched the scene, almost immediately to his right, with a slightly turned head.

The woman was no more than twenty. She had silver hair. She was short … but thick, not pixie-like. She looked too tiny to be taking on a demon and winning. Yet, she was.

She thrust the palm of her fist upward toward the demon. The power surged again, coming from nowhere. The demon exploded. His previously detached limbs were joined by his scattered guts. Then it all disintegrated. The half-demon had _purified _the demon.

The woman fell back onto her butt and then nearly lay on the grass, obviously dizzy. She was panting and pale. Her entire body trembled from the effort.

Sesshomaru had ceased walking. He stared at the woman, utterly confused. He wanted to ask if she needed water only so that he could ask what she was, but he restrained himself.

And when he nearly lost his resolve, the woman stood up abruptly. She turned to Sesshomaru for the first time.

He felt himself touch Rin's shoulder protectively … but she did not feel his ghost arm.

The woman's brown eyes were cold. She turned slowly and walked away.

Sesshomaru gawked after her with a frown. How indignant that he should gawk at a creature who had the respect of an acorn.

Rin removed her hand from Sesshomaru's garments and crossed her arms over her chest.


	2. The First Words

Ooooooo. This is a weak following. But I did get one review! No reply to that review's reply ... Oh, well. :D I'm definately not a stalker! XD

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Onigen | Mariah Bryant

The First Words

_I'll ask Inuyasha about her when I see him_, Sesshomaru thought. He made himself think about it no more after that.

Rin was combing her hair with a brush Sesshomaru had bought for her. (He was _buying_ things for her, not taking them. Even if the money was demanded from rogues.) She knew she was getting more beautiful with every passing day. She was growing out of her acne stage, too. She knew Sesshomaru was aware of her. She knew combing her hair made him more aware of how beautiful her hair was becoming. She had a slight curl toward the ends.

Jaken was singing an old song. Sesshomaru wished Rin would sing, too.

Sesshomaru thought about the happy people that he was going to visit. Kagome was beautiful. She was even prettier than Kikyo now. (Especially since she was out of those weird clothes and wearing the more elegant attire of a priestess.) She was so kind, and her power was outstanding. Inuyasha was very handsome. He was so much like their father now that it was incredible. He was not the stupid mutt anymore. Inuyasha had found himself in Kagome.

Sesshomaru was the awkward one, then. He had found himself, yes. He was no longer unwise and out for power. But he still could not find a purpose.

Helping Rin seemed to be his only purpose. Was that enough?

"How dare you! DIE!"

Rin looked up in surprise. "Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Girl! Come here!" Jaken waddled quickly to Rin and, taking her hand, made a dash away from the voice.

Sesshomaru heard the commotion and appeared, his colors blurring with his speed. He wrapped his right arm around Rin's small stomach. Jaken clung to Rin's hand. She was moaning with the strain; he was pretty heavy. Sesshomaru carried his friends a mile, then returned to the scene of the fight.

He was certain the woman was stalking him.

_No, no. I, Sesshomaru, am no fool. She is obviously the protector of this forest. But why? _

It was indeed the woman again. She was dressed differently from the last time he had seen her: she didn't have a kimono. She was wearing oddly arranged strips of cloth in many colors. Sesshomaru saw why: the white kimono was lying on the ground, torn and reddened with the woman's blood.

She had tattoos, the same as Sesshomaru. This proved her to be a demon, not a half-demon. Sesshomaru was even more intrigued.

The monster she was battling was radiating a massive demonic aura. It was a man twice as tall as Sesshomaru. He was extremely muscular. His flesh was covered with red scales. His hair was long and dark. He wore only a white loincloth and a thick brown belt with places to sheath plenty of swords. Two heavy swords buzzing with power were in his hands.

The woman looked tinier than she had when she had beaten the scorpion-demon.

She was sobbing and blinking often. Her left arm clutched her stomach. Her right leg carried all of her weight; the left was cut down to the bone.

"You shouldn't be doing this…," she cried.

"Your spectator is the only man _here _who might fall for your lies," the man countered. His voice was low and seductive.

Sesshomaru got the feeling that he was missing something. Immediately he came to two conclusions: the man was either her father or her husband. Apparently she had lied before. That must have been why she was alone the other times Sesshomaru had seen her.

Even demons needed someone to protect.

The woman moaned. Her brown eyes with odd lavender pupils began to roll back. She fell to the right. When she hit, blood squirted from her wounds.

"Are you done already? Well. That was not nearly as much fun as I would have liked. Now I have to go kill this man…" The giant demon turned to Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru frowned. "I am not here to impede. I am merely here to tell this woman to stop following me."

The man nodded. "Tell her, then, before she parishes. I'm afraid your words will be in vain, though. The dead cannot bother you."

"I have no business with a dead woman. However, I doubt this woman will die today." Then Sesshomaru addressed the woman. "My partners do not possess the strength that I do, and if we feel they are in danger I will have to kill you."

Her shaking hand rose to her forehead. To his surprise, she opened her eyes and answered. "Understood." Her answer took him aback.

She pulled her right leg under her bruised, broken body and rose. Her inhalations were taking all of her strength; she could scarcely glare at her attacker.

"Why don't you fight me with your birth-given strength?" the man asked and sounded sincere.

The woman shrieked a growl. "Dammit! You wouldn't spare my life! Why the hell is a vassal doing the dirty work, anyway?"

"You wouldn't be sparing mine," he purred.

Sesshomaru decided that he was no longer needed. He turned and walked away.

Behind him, the woman screamed. The sound of the demon's sword was loud in Sesshomaru's impeccable ears.

"_DEVICE IOLACK!_"

"_RAAAAAAAAAH!_"

"Vey cols treberry. _ARIBITHICOLDEGATCHI!_"

Sesshomaru whipped around. He recognized the last phrase. It had once been used on his mother.

The woman's hands had caught the sword and deactivated the demonic aura. The demon had attacked with the other sword. The woman flicked her hand toward it and it spun toward the sky. Then the demon attacked with the sharp-but-powerless sword. The woman pounded her right leg into the ground and jumped. The height was unnatural for a human. She landed on the sword and was able to keep her balance.

Then she had said those deadly words, eye-to-eye with her opponent.

The man fell back. She abandoned the sword before she landed on him. The man was wheezing.

"Would you really use that on one of your own kind?"

"You aren't my kind," she growled lowly, standing a few feet from the demon's face. "You are a _vassal_."

The demon's chest compressed when he let out three short laughs. "You should know that curse doesn't work on us." Then his head rolled to the side. His eyes found Sesshomaru. "Why are you still here?"

Sesshomaru bristled and bared his teeth. "You are in my way."

The woman turned to Sesshomaru. Her eyes were filled with tears. Her lips had no color. Her eyelids were two variations of low.

She faced the man. "I'm going to purify you."

"Hypocrite. Even if you prove to have the courage to do it, even if you think you can survive it, I have already delivered my message. We want you back."

She frowned. "I can survive it," she assured him.

She climbed onto his chest. His hands grabbed her. She did not seem to care. She did not respond to the things his hands did. She did not seem to mind that he was squeezing her stomach impossibly hard. She closed her eyes for a few moments.

"_Aribithicol de amundash, sept dengt blei moon._"

The man began to scream. The woman began to scream. Their screams hiked in pitch and loudness. The man's skin became black where he touched her, then all of it.

Sesshomaru watched and was amazed.

At the last moment, the woman gasped and looked at something past Sesshomaru. There was no time to move.

The man exploded. Sesshomaru was thrown back against a tree – it shattered. The woman was thrown into the air. Her clothes survived perfectly intact, but her skin was burned.

Sesshomaru got to his feet and caught her in his one arm. For a few breathless seconds, he held this woman. She was moaning in her unconsciousness, red tears streaming down her face. Her head fell onto Sesshomaru's shoulder.

He stared a few moments in utter disbelief. One moment she had been no more than human. Then, when killing him, she had been more powerful than the demon. She had said that she was going to purify him. The demon and Sesshomaru had known that a demon would not be able to purify so easily. However, it would have been an easier feat than whatever the woman did, and it was not pure power that had welled up and exploded within the demon. She, a demon, was probably trained in curses. The demon's very being had been turned completely black and the pressure had soared, prodded by the woman. Then Sesshomaru had felt an incredible blast of dark power; the demon had exploded. His evil had dispersed.

"This woman did not purify that demon. She cursed it." Sesshomaru said this aloud.

At that moment, Sesshomaru realized that he had been distracted from the thing of most importance. He shunned himself time and time again, but the damage had already been done.

Sesshomaru knelt and laid the woman on the ground, now clean of the battle.

From the bushes came a soft cry. Sesshomaru's heart constricted. He went to the place and got on his knees. His face contorted with anguish so sincere that it was heartbreaking.

Rin, beneath a pile of dead limbs and leaves and bushes and rocks, gazed through the wreckage at Sesshomaru. She was in so much pain that it was incredible. The light was fading from her.

Sesshomaru called for Jaken. The little green demon scuttled through the forest (he apparently had followed Rin but had escaped damage with the distance put between Rin and himself by her much longer legs) and helped his master carefully remove carnage from on top of Rin.

"Stupid girl! You took her a mile away from the battle so that she could be safe!" Jaken fussed. "She insists on being ignorant!"

"Jaken," Sesshomaru said, his voice breaking.

Jaken looked up at Sesshomaru in surprise. What he saw were actual tears in his master's eyes. Jaken frowned, then allowed himself to sniffle. He loved Rin, too.

Jaken's small hands removed the last branch from Rin's stomach. The build of the branch had caused it to dig into Rin's flesh. When it was removed, Rin coughed. Tremors ran through her chest.

Sesshomaru feared she would die there. He had saved her with the Tensaiga once before. Would the laws of life permit it to work again?

"We'll get you to a healer, Rin," Sesshomaru promised in a whisper.

Jaken eyed Sesshomaru in a way that his master would not notice. Sesshomaru had never used that tone before. The desperation was almost as it had been when Sesshomaru had battled Bankotsu. And the love was … well, it was new, actually. The look on Sesshomaru's face was worse than when Rin had been captured.

"Jaken, help me," Sesshomaru said in the 'Sesshomaru-version' of a whimper.

Jaken moved behind Rin and pushed her into a sitting position. Blood squirted from her stomach, darkening her already dirt-covered kimono. Sesshomaru bent down. Jaken guided Rin to lean against him, and Sesshomaru slipped his hand beneath her.

With his girl unconscious in his arm, Sesshomaru was able to regain a little of the confidence he had lost. A little of the sanity.

Jaken climbed to the top of a tree, huffing and puffing and complaining the entire way. He was able to see smoke coming from a village in the distance. So, their path veered sharply to the left.

When Jaken had scrambled down again, Sesshomaru was standing exactly the same as when he had gone up. Rin was still cradled in his arm. Except now, Sesshomaru was glaring in the direction of the fight. Jaken shivered with the absolute hate radiating from his master.

"Jaken." Sesshomaru's voice, fitting of a shinigami, made him jump. "Finish her off."

Jaken blinked up at Sesshomaru. "Master?"

"Hurry. Rin doesn't have much time, and I'm not sure nature will allow me to break its cycle again." Sesshomaru's voice wasn't harsh. It was suddenly soft. His golden eyes looked down at Rin.

Jaken hesitated only a moment more. His conscious was going to extremely guilty for this one, he knew, but Rin was more important. Whatever Sesshomaru said was more important. Jaken went to the smoldering woman. His only weapon was his Staff of Two Heads. It didn't seem right to turn the woman to chars.

He bent over and carefully used his nail to slice the woman's throat. It was a good slice, too – not one a demon could heal back. What little breath the woman had been cycling slid out with her blood.

His stout green form shuddered. Feeling bad, he sent a quick prayer to the lady's deity, deities, or other forces. Then he left.


	3. The Healer and the Town

Thank you to all of my readers! I suppose Inuyasha isn't getting as many people as Vampire Knight, but at least Onigen got the same number of people this month as did Sister of Kaname (which has been up for over a year.) Haha! I love you guys!

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Onigen | Mariah Bryant

_The Healer and the Town_

With Jaken clinging to Sesshomaru's long fur garment and with Rin clinging to life within Sesshomaru's embrace, Sesshomaru sped through the forest. It was within thirty minutes that they were scaring the villagers.

"This little human girl needs a doctor!" Jaken cried out to the people who ran for their huts upon seeing him.

Sesshomaru, being an incredibly beautiful creature, tried a different tactic. He walked (and this verb is stressed because he did not _float _in order to appear humane and friendly) to a child who was hiding in the doorway and peeking out curiously. "Could you please show me to a healer? This girl, a little older than you, is very hurt."

_He's changed so much, he's foreign,_ Jaken thought. He wasn't sure he liked it.

The little girl nodded and began walking. Sesshomaru followed, trying to seem patient.

Rin's chest shuddered. Unable to help it but feeling no need to stop, Sesshomaru rested his cheek on her head comfortingly. "We are going to stay in this town for a while, Rin. You can sleep in a real bed."

The girl whimpered.

Their guide (Jaken was now following) pushed aside a bamboo-strung door and called into the open, airy hut. A middle-aged man came out, wearing a deep frown.

"I don't tend to your kind simply because I don't know how," he told Sesshomaru. "The Lady Kagome will be arriving within the next couple of days. She will be able to help you. She's married to the famed half-demon Inuyasha."

Sesshomaru was surprised by this news but wasn't interested in asking questions when time was wasting. "Yes, I am aware. He is my half-brother. My girl, though, needs aid _now_. She is a human."

The middle-aged man looked sadly at the wall. "Was she caught in a battle?"

Sesshomaru was too angry, then, to speak. He quickly swallowed his fury and forced out, "There was an explosion. It's a human enough situation. If you won't help her, I'll have to show you my wrath." A low growl came from the pit of Sesshomaru's being. His eyes widened, becoming animalistic.

The man shivered. "I will do what I can."

Jaken was made to work at a shop to pay for Rin's aid. He didn't like it, but he didn't complain.

The doctor did all that he could think of. With the incentive of his possible death, he gave Rin more medicines than he had money to pay for. It looked as if Rin would live. The doctor told Sesshomaru that Rin really needed to be seen by Lady Kagome. Thankfully, the doctor said, Lady Kagome visited often. Sesshomaru didn't care to ask why.

On the night of the third day, Sesshomaru heard Rin's breathing slowing. He quickly summoned the doctor, who couldn't do much. Completely and utterly upset (any normal man would have been on his knees, screaming), he stormed out of the building. Walking swiftly – nearly gliding – his hair flew out behind him. He was a rather scary sight, but no one was about in the village to fear him. Jaken asked him where he was going, and it was background noise. There was a roaring in Sesshomaru's head.

Sesshomaru had no idea what to do. He looked confused and angry.

He thought of the woman who might have finally ripped Rin from his hand. He had worried over it since he met her and knew that they could not separate. He had tried, but fate had not allowed it. What if Rin really was gone from the world?

It was his fault. And the woman's. Jaken hadn't roasted her; perhaps Sesshomaru should go demolish her body so that her soul would never rest. He held the key to the doors of hell, after all.

Lady Kagome Higurashi was welcomed with terrified faces. "What is the matter?"

"Much has gone awry, my Lady!" a young woman said.

Kagome frowned, already missing Inuyasha. She was no miracle worker. She hated being alone to handle big problems like the ones that arose every week in this village. She was from Tokyo.

"Inuyasha's brother is here, holding the good doctor hostage!"

This caught Kagome's attention. "Why would he do that?" she mused aloud.

"He had a little girl with him. She looked really hurt," a child said. "I heard she nearly passed on last night. The doctor pounded her heart, though."

Kagome gasped. Sesshomaru had been unable to protect Rin … and for the first time he had been unable to resolve the matter himself. Kagome hurried to the doctor's hut.

Sesshomaru was leaning against a wall, sitting on a wooden stool. Rin was lying on a cot, half-nude, heavily bandaged, and covered with a light sheet. (Jaken was busily serving tea and trying not to trip over his own feet.)

Kagome felt incredible sympathy for the two. She knew that the age difference was difficult. The species difference was even worse. The issue of protection and such … could drive them both insane. She silently prayed that Rin and Sesshomaru would have strength.

"Hi, Sesshomaru," she said gently, as if she wasn't talking to the man who had despised and tried to kill her husband.

"Hello, Kagome." Sesshomaru sat up straight. "It is very lucky that you were on your way here."

"The doctor here cannot treat all that I can," she replied. "How is Rin? What happened?"

Sesshomaru put his head in his hand. Kagome went to him and touched his shoulder. Sesshomaru looked utterly beaten. There was darkness in his eyes. His hair was losing shine.

Kagome, on the other hand, was glowing. She sparkled with her pure power.

"I'm not really sure what happened. I wasn't paying attention to her. We had come upon a battle and there was an explosion."

Kagome walked around Sesshomaru and gazed down at young Rin. She didn't really look very young anymore. She was starting to look less innocent and more like Kagome had: fatigued.

"Oh, Sesshomaru," Kagome whispered to herself.

Sesshomaru looked away, eyes heavy with thought.

Kagome got to work. She removed Rin's bandages to survey the damage. The doctor had cleaned the wounds pretty well. He hadn't realized that topical medicine would have an adverse affect on Rin's wounds, however. Kagome could see that Rin's internal organs had been bruised and perhaps one or two had ruptured. She would have to perform surgery to see the damage and begin trying to heal Rin.

The surgery she did that night. There was enough pain medication in stock. She had the doctor get more for the coming days. Kagome actually had to _purify_ Rin. She had sensed an intense death curse a mile away – one laced with evil. Once all of that was done, Rin began to get better.

A man came to the door of the hut and knocked. "Lady Kagome? Are you at a stopping point?"

Kagome turned from Sesshomaru's sad face and frowned at the man. "Yes. What is the matter?"

The man eyed Sesshomaru. "It's Lola."

Kagome looked at Sesshomaru. Whatever she was thinking or feeling, Sesshomaru couldn't tell. She flashed a smile and left with the man.

Sesshomaru looked over at sleeping Rin. Now she looked peaceful.

Late that night, Sesshomaru heard commotion and stood in the doorway. A large group, like a search party, were talking and carrying torches. Kagome was in the middle, hushing them.

"Okay, so lead the way." Apparently someone told her a direction. She took off sprinting. She soon left the group behind. "Keep up!" she called.

Rin's eyes fluttered open. "Oww…"

Sesshomaru was there. He knelt beside the cot and took Rin's hand. His breathing has sped up; his hand shook. He tried to find something to say. "Kagome took good care of you."

She smiled. "Kagome? You went all the way to her village carrying me?"

"That wouldn't have been a feat. Actually, Kagome happened to be visiting a village nearby. If she hadn't, I'm not sure you would have survived," he said gently, more to himself than to Rin.

Rin smiled bigger. "I love you, Sesshomaru."

At first he paused in shock. Then Sesshomaru smiled (a half-smile) back and it was loving, sincere, and happy. "And I love you."

The next day around noon the party came back. This time their voices were hushed. Many were bent over an object they were carrying. Kagome was in the lead. The whole group went to a hut.

Jaken came to Sesshomaru and told him that the villagers had retrieved the woman's body from the woods. Kagome apparently knew her.

Somehow, fury exploded within him. He reasoned that Kagome hadn't betrayed him; she didn't know what the woman had done. While Jaken cowered, Sesshomaru gnashed his teeth and fought himself not to stride to the woman and kill her himself.

When Kagome came back to check on Rin, Sesshomaru asked about the woman. In a rage, he told her about the woman knowing Rin was there and sacrificing her life.

At first, Kagome had had to deadpan and try to make Sesshomaru understand that she wouldn't permit him to kill her. Sesshomaru was made even angrier that Kagome was defending the witch. Then the conversation cooled down. Kagome explained how Lola was special. It was as if Kagome was telling Sesshomaru that Lola hadn't had any control over her actions.

"Lola is, in fact, a half-demon. The man she was battling was a vassal of her clan's. She is a very interesting case, though. She is able to abandon her demonic power. I have taught her to utilize her demonic strength in purifying enchantments. However, she also has skill in the dark arts. Though she sounds strong, the odd thing is that she isn't. Right now she is weaker than an average human. When she battles, her power rises."

Sesshomaru didn't think what Kagome said made sense. He had known it already. Was that all there was to it? The woman was an oddity?

"How did you come to know her?"

"Inuyasha attracts many half-demons seeking refuge. Lola's clan must realize that she could possibly quite powerful. They want to see if they can use her. She doesn't want to return to them, though. I have taken her under my wing because she is … well, she doesn't know what to do with herself."

"I have never heard of – before Inuyasha, that is – a village letting a woman battle a stronger demon alone and then searching for her corpse in the night."

Kagome smiled. "She is no priestess. However, this village has adopted her. She has protected this place." Kagome had been examining Rin as she spoke. "Well, Rin might be able to walk in a day. She is recovering abnormally fast."

Sesshomaru sighed, relieved. "Good."

It was then that he remembered the reason he had been trying to find Kagome. "How have you not aged? I worry over Rin's safety so often, and I'm not sure that I can see her hurt like this again. Has the Jewel made you immortal?"

Kagome blushed deep red. "Um, not exactly. Kikyo destroyed the Jewel, remember?"

"No fragment remains?"

"No. Not a stitch of its power."

"Then … how?"

Kagome clasped her hands together and turned toward the door. "Well, that's a part of the 'demon' deal," she said as she headed out. "Your mate will live as long as you do and age just as slowly. I wouldn't rush things with Rin, though."

Sesshomaru was hardly surprised. "Because I want her to have a chance at a life apart from me," he said calmly.

Kagome peered at him over her shoulder. "You could look at it that way." With that, she left.


	4. Fury

**A Sort of Ode**

I regret... something has happened recently. I annoyed someone dear to me. I have made a huge mistake. I will never be forgiven. This person ... could not understand. She did not understand. She couldn't! It's no one's fault but mine. See, this person ... has no clue who Sesshomaru-sama (worship, worship) is. But that is no excuse! I ... annoyed her.

I SAID SESSHOMARU WAS A GORGEOUS CREATURE. (Or something to that effect.)

This poor person … whom I have known for two years … was hurt by those words. I will never forgive myself. This girl – a lower classman of mine, from my own tiny school – has watched more animes than I have. She was annoyed because I was putting a creature above other creatures.

It was wrong of me, was it not?

But then again. How could I say that? Why am I not defending the demon of my dreams? The incredible, almost _undreamable _LORD SESSHOMARU. Whether or not I annoyed Alexa should not matter! The words that harmed her did not scratch the surface of what should be said about the Lord and Master!

Shall I continue harming this poor, pitiful human being?

Of COURSE! My Sesshomaru demands it.

Sesshomaru is the only creature worthy of oxygen, and he tosses it aside like garbage.

He can hover to prevent himself from soiling his feet with the decrepit planet Earth, but what about the nausea-inducing ATMOSPHERE?

Why does he stay on the planet? Why does he not seek someplace better?

Because he wishes to grace us with his presence. Our worthless race! (Why did we even bother to evolve?)

What a noble man!

But do not say that to his face! Do not bitter his nostrils with the air from your mouth! He cares not for humans. Right?

Oh, Sesshomaru: the only deity worth painting. How I love him. He is perfection. He is the only perfection.

Now, back to the story...

* * *

Onigen | Mariah Bryant

Fury

Things went south with Rin. Apparently, something had gotten infected. Not a surprise in the feudal world. Kagome was equipped to take care of Rin, but Sesshomaru had long lost his senses.

"My Lord? Why are you this way? My Lord?" Jaken gasped, full-out sprinting behind Sesshomaru. "Could it be that you are _guilty_? Do you really think it was your fault? Of course that's what you think! My Lord, it was the _girl's _own fault!"

Sesshomaru wheeled around. In a flash, Jaken was seeing black. The pain wasn't going away, though. He squirmed weakly, oblivious as to what had happened. When he opened his eyes, sensing _amazing _fury and hate and power radiating from a source before him, he was shocked white to see that his master – _his Lord Sesshomaru _– was choking him, pinning him against a tree! Sesshomaru's eyes were red, his lips parted to expose terrifying fangs.

Jaken whimpered, truly fearing for his life.

Sesshomaru's eyes blinked a few times and he turned away, letting Jaken fall. Jaken fumbled around to get up, but did not leave his master. He was loyal and did not question Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru seemed as if his tantrum would end soon, anyhow.

But then, Sesshomaru exploded. Fire erupted around him, and then he was in his true form. Jaken wondered for a split second if Sesshomaru was really going to kill him, and he actually didn't mind. Sesshomaru didn't tear him up, however – he took out his fury on the trees. For fifteen minutes, Sesshomaru destroyed trees. It was loud; Jaken's ears bled with the sounds of cracking, falling trees and Sesshomaru's howls and snarls and screams.

Out of the blue there was a sound. A feminine, tiny little sound. Sesshomaru stopped dead in his tracks, recognizing the voice. It was not Kagome.

"Stop this. You are frightening the villagers. If you are going to carry on like this, get away from my village."

He turned slowly to the tiny human woman called Lola. He became his human-looking self, still growling. Unable to control himself or fathom the _nerve _of the woman before him, he stepped toward her. "You do not nearly kill Rin and then tell _me _to get away from _your _village," Sesshomaru snarled. He was so angry, he couldn't see. "You do _not _nearly kill the wife of the Great Dog Demon."

The woman smiled. Her beauty in the moonlight was like a diamond in muck. What Sesshomaru saw looked truly hideous to him. "The girl is not your wife, and you are not the Great Dog Demon. I repent anyhow for hurting her." The woman's smile fell. "I really do. I know you know that I sensed her presence right before that vassal's evil erupted within him. I'm weak. I can't … control my power. I know you are going to say that I shouldn't use power I can't control. I wouldn't have, but that man struck some cores with me. I panicked and because I'm weak, Rin was hurt. I am so sorry."

Sesshomaru looked down on the woman now. She did not meet his eyes out of respect, but did not cower or shrink away in the least. This didn't fuel Sesshomaru's peaked anger, though.

"You're lucky I don't make a habit of hitting women. Based on how you survived Jaken's killing you, though, I venture that anything I did to you would not be the same as what you did to Rin." He turned and was quickly a part of the shadows.

Lola stood very still, watching Jaken run after the tall, beautiful man. Her feelings were mixed.

In the morning, Rin smiled lovingly at Sesshomaru in such a way that melted his heart. "What is troubling you?"

"The woman that did this to you."

Rin coughed twice. Sesshomaru stroked her cheek, looking concerned. Rin frowned at him. "I know you, Sesshomaru. You are blaming yourself as much as Lola. Neither of you are at fault, so calm down. Stop being so dramatic."

Sesshomaru could hardly find a way to explain to Rin what made him conclude on whom the blame was placed. His fingers touched Rin's hair while he thought. He had never before touched her in this loving way.

"Lola apologized a long time ago, through Kagome because she was stuck in bed," Rin said softly, closing her eyes. "I have forgiven her. I never blamed her. You have to do the same."

Sesshomaru let himself smile sadly in his own way. Rin grinned.

* * *

**Another Ode**

Gary Stus and Mary Sues. Yeah, I know what they are! I've been flamed before. I don't give a flying monkey about which character says what and seems like what when they say it. You wanna know who's a Mary Sue? Kagome Higurashi. Sango. Sakura. Starfire. Bella Swan. And even Tenten, who shows her face in one-in-five episodes in Naruto: Shippuden. Wanna know who a Gary Stu is? Naruto. Ichigo. Togusa. I don't know a whole lot of anime characters, but I'm certain you recognize some of them? If not, then look at this one: SUPER MAN. And you know what? I LOVE SUPER MAN. (Don't anyone even consider that Batman is a Gary Stu. He's not. He's just NOT! Neither is Robin!) So you know what? I like Mary Sues and Gary Stus just as much as I love the VILLIANS such as Light Yagami and Red X and The Joker. :P


	5. Lola

Onigen | Mariah Bryant

Lola

"DEMONS!"

Kagome looked up at the doorway. Sesshomaru did, too. Rin was sitting up in bed already facing the door. Jaken was lying at the foot of the cot dead asleep and did not move.

"I'm coming," Kagome said, as does a woman burdened. She stood up. "You stay with Rin. Get her water when she needs it."

"They're big," the old woman in the doorway warned.

"I can handle it alone." Kagome smiled at Sesshomaru. "Lola attracts all sorts of demons. No one minds, really. This is a new age."

Just then, a bolt of color streaked by the door. "I've got it."

It was the woman, Lola.

Kagome gasped and ran outside. "Come back here! You are drained of power; you're useless!"

Sesshomaru went to the door. Lola was laughing. The sound made him stop suddenly. He looked out at the scene: an entire flock of bird-demons were attacking. Lola slowed upon seeing them.

Her wounds had healed but she swayed on her feet.

Kagome ran up beside her. "You can do what you want. I will take them out with my arrows." She always wore her quiver and bow on her shoulder.

"I feel like taking on my anger on something. I'm not sure that using that demon-man is a good idea, so how about these small-fry?"

Sesshomaru was suddenly beside the women. Lola quieted at his presence. It wasn't out of respect. He stood there silently, waiting for someone to move. The birds were beginning to attack villagers. They were the size of huts.

"Lola, please go hide. Sesshomaru and I will kill them all in no time."

"Can't you sense it? They're waiting for us to attack. They are planning something."

Sesshomaru didn't see much wisdom in the twenty ugly birds.

A child was lifted into the air.

Lola sighed and closed her eyes. "They just engaged me." She took a few blind steps forward, chanting something quietly.

Kagome pursed her lips. She touched Sesshomaru's shoulder, holding him back. "Let's see how this goes. Perhaps you can tell me where her power comes from. Maybe it is an object somewhere?"

"Stop talking about me as if I'm a project."

Sesshomaru really hated that the woman was so cocky. Perhaps she didn't deserve to be forgiven. It wasn't hard for him to hold a grudge.

Lola gritted her teeth. Sesshomaru could see where her jaw was flexing. "_Ahdeu setopt._"

"That's a hard one –" Kagome began, but the sound of a bird dropping to the ground cut her off.

"THIS IS MY VILLAGE," Lola growled back toward Sesshomaru and Kagome.

Lola took a running start and launched herself onto the roof. Her feet were silent and blurred. Her arms remained to the sides, palms up. The bird holding the screaming child was blocked from her by two others. She roared and thrust her arms out. "_DEAMCEH!_"

The birds cried and disintegrated.

Lola was coming down from her leap. The bird was in her path. She stressed her fingers. "_Goeplen_." The round bird ripped down the middle, screaming. The child fell. Lola was faster than the force of gravity. She wrapped her arms around the thick boy. Her legs broke their fall nearly silently. She quickly set him down and leapt up again.

Kagome turned to Sesshomaru. "She's never been this powerful before. I remember once, Inuyasha and Kouga had to fight together to beat this type of demon."

"She's allowing her demon side to guide her body. That's why," Sesshomaru said harshly. "It looks to me that the reason she only has enough power to defeat her opponent is because she unconsciously doesn't want to have it. That vassal must have talked some sense into her." _And scared her. That's why she nearly killed Rin. Pathetic woman._

Kagome paled. "What did he say?"

Sesshomaru frowned. Out of love for his sister-in-law, he did not turn the frown on her; the fear would have been crippling for even her incredible spirit. Such were the things Rin caused him to feel.

The birds began to scream all at once. They angled toward Kagome.

"Oh, no. Could they be seeking revenge after all of these years?" Kagome whispered, stepping back. As usual, she forgot her power and was again a normal human schoolgirl. Her recovery from that feeling was faster than usual when she was suddenly being protected by an amazing demon.

Sesshomaru stepped in front of Kagome and drew the Tokijin. "They have no motive other than to cause chaos. Someone has sent them to survey the area and cause trouble."

Lola whipped around, her eyes immediately finding the sword. She was terrifying, her lips pulled back over her teeth and her eyes wild. Her tattoos were glowing. "No!" Her voice was distorted.

"She's nearing her change," Kagome said. "Damn, I wish Inuyasha was here! He calms her down. He is about the only force that can stop her."

Sesshomaru was getting a mixed message. Was the woman weak or powerful? But then, what did it matter? "Focus on the birds, Kagome."

The birds attacked. The inner circle dived. The outer circle opened their beaks, shooting millions of blue waves. Kagome realized that these birds were not avenging the comrades killed by her, Inuyasha, and Kouga. They were not comrades. These birds were of a different nature. Kagome hit the ground behind Sesshomaru. He stood strong, holding out his sword patiently. His eyes narrowed.

The sword shuddered and fell to the ground. When it did, Sesshomaru felt some of his soul go with it. The feeling was utterly terrifying. Petrified, he stared at Lola.

"_DEVICE IOLACK!_"

Lola was standing with her feet spread on one of the huts. She had her arms raised above her. Her face was beginning to transform and her rib cage was expanding. Her knees were bending oddly.

"_Decong de metalopp._"

All of the birds stopped their attacks and turned to Lola. Suddenly, each screeched and caught fire. This was an attack, not a curse. When they opened their beaks, their flaming waves were twice as powerful. Huts were destroyed. People were screaming, moaning, and crying.

Sesshomaru saw Lola's eyes flutter close, then reopen. Sesshomaru had paused when near the half-demon Naraku because of his power. This woman now had twice the effect on him. He stared.

And his anger was forgotten in that moment.

"_Nomenchisse_."

The birds began panting. They fell from the sky. On the dirt, they shot their waves.

Kagome stood beside Sesshomaru and watched, just as transfixed as he was.

Lola's arms shook violently. If she had been much bigger, her arms would have literally been pinning the birds to the ground. She nearly fell from the roof. Her knees gave out and she titled to the left. Kagome stepped forward to run and catch her. She corrected herself, though. Absently she held her arm in her line of sight, blinking and not seeing. Then she bristled. Her gaze snapped toward the forest.

Then Sesshomaru heard a rumbling in the distance. When it got louder, Kagome's eyes got wide. Sesshomaru clutched his hand around the Tokijin's hilt.

"Something large is approaching," Kagome said, surprised.

"I'll get this one," Sesshomaru declared with determination.

She unfroze for the first time since first smelling the newest intruder. "No." Her word was not like a command, nor was it in defiance. Sesshomaru really got the impression that this was her fight, one for which she had trained. Sesshomaru was getting surprised quite often by this woman. Lola hit her knees then rolled from the roof onto the ground.

"Lola!" Kagome cried.

"My name is _Onigen_," Lola hissed, walking out from between the huts into the street. "Put away the sword."

She sat down deliberately in the middle of the street amongst the struggling birds. "_Aribithicol de amundash_." The birds ceased to struggle. They disappeared in dust, then the dust was gone.

Sesshomaru understood the pull on his soul. Initially he was surprised he had one. And then he realized that many of the woman's curses affected souls directly. That phrase she used _pulled souls from their shells_.

Lola pulled her knees up to her chest and placed her forehead on them. She laid her arms on the ground. Then she waited.

The rumbling got more and more violent. With each second, Lola's breathing got more ragged and her back shone with sweat.

This might have been her fight, but it was obvious that she couldn't handle it.

"MY LORD!" Jaken shrieked. Sesshomaru turned to see Jaken running toward him. He tried to wipe the horrible scowl from his face before speaking with his vassal. "Rin tried to come see you and she is throwing up and crying!"

Kagome blanched. "I might … have to help Lola." She said it before Sesshomaru could process the information to give Kagome a pleading look.

Sesshomaru frowned. "Kagome, please," he begged. He couldn't tell what his face was (or, more likely, _wasn't_) betraying, but it affected Kagome.

Kagome looked deep into her brother-in-law's eyes. He really cared for Rin. He would die if she did. The strongest man could be unstable when it came to his love. She nodded to him and went away with Jaken.

Sesshomaru glanced at Lola, then followed deeper. Then he spun, robes flowing behind him, and went to his love.

"Girl, please calm down," Jaken told Rin, who was on her hands and knees. Jaken grabbed her arm.

"Rin, Sesshomaru is right here." Kagome glanced out the door again toward the source of the earth's quakes.

Rin blinked up at Sesshomaru with tears in her eyes. "It hurts." Her words had too much meaning in them. Sesshomaru knelt beside her and pulled her into his embrace. She cried into him.

"I doubt your stitches came loose. You are probably only nauseous. I have something for that," Kagome said, and went to the shelves. She brought back a yellow tablet that tasted awful and gave it to Rin to suck. "Take three of these. I've left the container on the stool."

"What's coming, Sesshomaru?" Rin asked feebly.

Sesshomaru rubbed her back. She looked up at him. "A demon. He feels very powerful – almost like Naraku, I know, but you must not leave this room. Kagome and I can take care of him."

Something flashed across Rin's face. "And Lola."

Sesshomaru knew Rin well enough to know that she was feeling eclipsed by this woman. What a laugh. He bent and kissed her head. "Lola is insignificant, like a duckling. Sesshomaru and Kagome will have to handle this demon."

"She doesn't seem weak." _She's like a deity. Not as pretty as my Sesshomaru, but close. Anyhow, she's far prettier than I am. She seems fit for him. She's different – not like the other female demons I've seen._

"She is human." Sesshomaru's eyebrows pulled together; he knew how hard Rin was thinking on her looks and such. He wished she wouldn't.

"So is Kagome." Rin looked up at him with defiance. Kagome almost chuckled at this.

Sesshomaru laughed … for Rin's sake. Rin liked the vibrations she felt from his chest. "When you heal, I will take you to find a magic necklace that will give you lots of power."

"That's a joke." Rin sounded happy.

Kagome squeaked, trying to balance as the ground bucked. She ran on uncertain legs out into the street.

Sesshomaru looked desperately at Jaken. "Take care of her." He hugged Rin gently, then left. It was getting very hard to leave Rin.

She was left on her knees. She wrapped her arms around herself. Jaken ushered her to the corner, away from the door.

Kagome and Sesshomaru stopped beside Lola. Lola was staring blankly at the ground. Her transformation had ceased. She was very still.

"Why would she make a grand entrance with a bunch of _birds_…"

"Your mother?" Kagome asked cautiously.

Lola nodded slowly. She was serious and concentrating; she looked different this way. He hated this about her, too.

Sesshomaru saw the beast rising above the trees. "You cannot face her today. Kagome, make a barrier." The thing he knew best of all was that he was not going to fight someone else's fight. This wisdom he had known all of his life. He also had great wisdom in deciding what his fight was. He would not interfere with Lola's issue with her mother, whether the fight was respectable or not. He guessed, not.

"You are right, but _I_ will make the barrier," Lola insisted. Her voice was gentle because she wasn't completely aware of the conversation.

"Sweetie, your barrier would fall," Kagome coaxed.

She sucked in air and suddenly was screaming. "No! And _damn _would you _sheathe your sword?_"

Sesshomaru didn't flinch; Kagome jumped. "What's wrong with my sword?" he demanded. Sesshomaru hooked the Tokijin inside his belt. When he removed his hand from it, Lola relaxed. He didn't care.

"It's affecting my instincts. It smells like the mouth of a mutated monster. When you touch it and your power flows into it, you smell like the enemy. For now, we are not enemies."

Unable to quell his curiosity, he burst. "What kind of demon are you?"

She laughed lightly. "Stick around and you'll find out."

Before Sesshomaru could decide on an emotion, Kagome crossed her legs on the ground beside Lola. "Come on. She's here."

"_Charla mein_." Lola gasped. The spell pulled and pulled until her senses shut down.

Kagome's brows furrowed. Her hands were in a prayer pose and she was muttering softly.

Sesshomaru watched the giant jaguar roar and attack the barrier. It didn't budge. Kagome was like a flower. Lola was like a stone.

When night fell, the demon retreated. Lola finally collapsed, looking like the stone she had been described as. Sesshomaru was sitting behind her, waiting to defend at least Rin and Jaken when Lola fell. Kagome opened her eyes and caught Lola.

"She overused herself again," she sighed. Her own voice sounded drained. Sesshomaru could tell that the demon had been probing the village; Kagome hadn't been able to keep the spell at bay.

"So I take it she is part jaguar-demon. Who was her father?"

"An unimportant human man."

"How odd. I've only ever seen where the human was a woman." By musing aloud, Sesshomaru wanted answers. His effort was of no use.

Kagome shrugged. "Can you help me get her to her hut?"

He felt as though he should have dropped the woman on her face. Sesshomaru picked Lola up and gently put her over his shoulder. He and Kagome walked down the quiet street. Even while they walked the illuminating, warm moonlight was replaced by cold rain.

Kagome didn't bring up the fact that the jaguar-demon had gotten past her barrier, though the demon hadn't been able to physically overcome the barrier. "Lola can't destroy her mother. She's tried before. Growing up in her mother's den was torture for her. Her mother had actually planned her. No one knows why. Some evil beings do those things to give themselves some sort of pleasure."

"I didn't ask for her life story."

She shot him a glare. "I'm asking you to go get Inuyasha. We need someone who can kill her. Obviously _you_ won't be fighting Lola's battle."

He was silent. She didn't care why.

"Lola would never let you, a stranger, fight her battle. It needs to be someone she can trust. I'm not good enough. We need Inuyasha."

"I'm not going to leave Rin. Forget it."

"Oh, right. I'm sorry." She sounded lost. "No one else is fast enough."

Sesshomaru's face contorted. He was feeling guilty and pained. But why was he feeling the need to help Lola? Had he somehow convinced himself that her stupidity was only ignorance that couldn't be cured? "What if she comes back during the night and I'm not here?"

"I know, I know. You don't have to do anything," Kagome said comfortingly.

He was quiet.

"Mother…" Lola whispered into Sesshomaru's fur garment.

"I will not go far from this village. Rin needs me," Sesshomaru said. "But I can help this pitiful being, though I owe her nothing but hate."

Kagome looked at him. There were no questions in her eyes. She nodded.

She cared for Lola in her hut. When they were leaving, a question occurred to Sesshomaru. "Why did she say her name was Onigen?" He knew the name well.

"That's her mother's name. Sometimes, when she begins to transform, she is overcome with the need for power and blood. She likes her mother's name. It is the name given to every Queen of the Jaguar-Demons."

Sesshomaru did not need to be told those things. Lola adopting her mother's name was only a tiny piece of a puzzle that only he needed to solve. Now he was tied to the war in a way that Kagome could not begin to fathom, human as she was.


	6. The First Conversation

Onigen | Mariah Bryant

The First Conversation

Lola looked as if she was coming around. Kagome stopped chanting, wishing she had some Motrin to stop her headache. She sat back in a chair and waited until Lola's face betrayed her consciousness.

And it did. Her lips immediately angled downward.

"Good morning."

"Why the hell did that demon try to help my village? He should hate anything I fight for." Lola asked angrily. "He didn't really look like he would help. It seemed as if he was only there to watch."

Kagome sighed. "Sesshomaru is a bit of a wandering soul. He has never really known what to do. This time he decided that because he was powerful and there was need of him, he would help."

"He didn't help me when I was battling my mother's minion or the scorpion-demon before then."

"You didn't look like you were in trouble." Kagome backtracked. "Well, you didn't seem like a demon to him then, either. Maybe he was just curious. He asked about you when he carried you here."

"He carried me?" Lola's voice went up an octave.

Kagome smiled at the woman. "Like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder."

Lola crossed her arms and pouted.

Kagome stood and retrieved a pitcher of water from a tray next to the fire-pit. She poured some of its contents into a glass and gave it to Lola.

Lola liked to act as old as she was, but Kagome knew that Lola was only in a place that Inuyasha had been not too long ago. Perhaps even in a place that Kagome had been in not long before. Kagome really cherished the half-demon woman. Inuyasha told her not to get attached, but Kagome felt something rather odd for Lola.

"So. Is this Sesshomaru the whole-demon brother of your husband?"

Kagome still blushed at the mention of Inuyasha. She nodded.

"Damn. I know you cornered him into thinking he has to fight my mom. The truth is this: I know he will be able to kill her. I wish he wouldn't, though. I want to make her suffer first by overpowering her."

"What if your mother engages the battle before you can overpower her? She nearly engaged yesterday."

Lola shrugged. "I've been running this long. I'm not out of breath yet." She began to ponder, then looked at Kagome abruptly. "My mother tried to kill me once by using him. She told him that she would be his queen if he would help her take over the world and make a mindless warrior out of me. He took offense and stormed off. But he had to keep coming back because our mothers were trying to be political about their hatred and jealousy."

"Really?"

Lola nodded. "I've seen many high-ranking demons because of her disposition. She knows that she's not powerful enough to be the best demon. She always wants to produce one with a better-ranking male. That's why she got Sesshomaru's mother mad – she chased his father around."

"At that point in time, their father was still alive?"

"Yes. But he was preoccupied with a human woman. My mother knew that his tastes did not include demons any longer. That was the only reason she gave up. That, and Inutaisho all but yelled at her." Lola laughed. "He tried to be sweet. I met him, you know. Wonderful man. I dreamt that he and Sesshomaru would break me out of my prison."

Kagome let herself smile. She felt it was nearly appropriate. "If you knew them, were you not treated like royalty, despite your mother's rough treatment?"

"As I've said many times: I was a prodigy. I could be a human princess and a demonic queen if only I could be whipped into the perfect shape to do so. But Mother was never happy. She could never break me quite enough."

"Maybe she isn't attacking because she wants to kill you, then."

"No. She has some other form of torture in mind." Lola was grave.

Kagome sat quietly for a few moments. "Well, I have to go check on Rin." She really did, and also she was thinking that things were becoming awkward in Lola's room. Plus, she could feel Sesshomaru thinking about her, wondering where she was.

Lola tensed. "She was the girl who suffered the waves of my curse?"

"Yes."

"I want to see her. Kagome, you cannot tell anyone this, understand?"

Kagome took Lola's hands, nodding. Lola met her eyes very seriously. "I used a curse that would wipe out a demon's soul. It added my evil demonic aura to the vassal's, pushing and pushing and expanding until it exploded, taking all evil with it. It was not the curse of death that a sorceress would have been able to use on her victim. It was a curse that would only _kill _or _hurt _someone who harbors evil and a demonic aura. And Sesshomaru was left without a scratch. Rin, however, had to be purified. Why did she act as a _catcher _for the exploding aura?"

Kagome cocked her head. "Huh." If Lola had asked about _geometry _Kagome might have known something, but this stuff was beyond her. She could work with it if she could sense it. This was not one of those cases.

"She doesn't feel like a demon. She is very, very human."

"Neither do you."

"I think that, being around powerful demons as she is, the girl has picked up powers that can be used to protect demons. She diverted Sesshomaru's aura to herself so that she could take the worst." Lola frowned. "No. I _know _that is what has happened."

"That's a proposal, all right." Kagome stood, taking Lola's hands with her.

The women walked to the doctor's hut.

The street seemed to have armed itself. Kagome had sent the men all throughout the village warning of an imminent demon attack. There was a grave feeling all throughout. This young village – more a trading town – tutored by Kiade's village was fine with fighting demons. Sango (the princess of a once-grand demon-slayer village) had put in some time here. The men and women opened their doors upon hearing the light conversation of the two beauties early in the morning.

Kagome quietly lifted the bamboo covering aside. Rin was asleep. Jaken looked up from where he sat on the floor, apparently haven awoken at their arrival. He blinked heavily, then looked at his master for a response. Sesshomaru glanced up, then got to his feet.

Lola couldn't deny that she was furious with Sesshomaru. She, too, was a prestigious demon. And skilled in many arts, as well. She went stiffly by Sesshomaru, the rude action very purposeful, and onto the girl. Upon seeing Rin and the damage she had done, she realized that a part of her hate of Sesshomaru was that he didn't understand. Lola cared for Rin. She was weak. That was all. The girl was beautiful and obviously kind. She wished she had been able to stop that day over a week ago. Lola looked at Sesshomaru. "I am very sorry I damaged her. There is no excuse." Sesshomaru glared at Lola. She bowed slightly, her fists clearly clenched. "I am not as great a demon as you, Lord Sesshomaru. I have no control."

It was true. Lola looked exactly like Inuyasha did when he battled. Or, rather, as he _had looked_. Completely disoriented and instinctual and wild.

Kagome intervened. "The point is that Lola has apologized. She came here to check on Rin because she was concerned."

"Humans are delicate. If you are going to live among them, you should learn more about them."

"Are you implying that I don't belong here?" Lola asked softly, still averting her eyes from the new Great Dog Demon.

"It is not my place to say it, but yes. Until you learn how easily a human can parish, it is pointless to try to care for them."

Lola smiled to herself. "I know. As weak as I am, a dull sword or a rock will cut me as it would a human."

Sesshomaru was beyond feeling surprise at the facts regarding this woman. He frowned menacingly at her and she made no response. He moved between Lola and Rin and still she never bristled. He dared to peep at her from the corner of her eye, never sensing her gaze. She looked … unabashed. Uncaring that she spoke of her weakness and angered him. She was something close to ethereal.

"I am content, Kagome. We can go now to see the whereabouts of my mother."

Kagome nodded once and escorted Lola out with an arm around her waist.

An hour later, Kagome was walking toward the doctor's hut, scanning with her senses for demons, when she heard soft crying. She slipped into the alley. Lola was lying on her side with her knees pulled to her chest.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, quickly kneeling beside her friend.

"I don't know what's going on anymore," she said, sitting up. "I'm nearly three hundred years old. I look as if I am fifteen. I cannot kill my own mother. I still get sucked into her games. I don't know what her purpose is for me and I want to kill her anyway. What if that's what she wants? What if she wants to be overthrown? I know she wants me to be the perfect queen … perhaps so I can take her place. Everything is so confusing! And that Sesshomaru…" Then Lola was shrieking. "His being here is _not _helping! I HATE this!"

Kagome felt her cheeks get cold. Her heart sped up. _Be careful, Lola. _"Um, what about him?"

"When I was young," she managed between dry sobs, "he was there. Like I said. And I allowed myself to dream of him, unguarded and kind. But I never saw that potential in him. I knew that I had to see him that way, though. The Great Dog Demon was slipping away. Sesshomaru was my only hope. Suddenly, he is that way exactly – to this human girl who looks almost my age."

"See, there were a series of events that caused him to be that way and then caused him to change –"

"Why do you always act like a therapist?" Lola snapped, and her voice cracked.

Kagome smiled sadly. "I love you. That's why. I want things to go better for you." She played with her hair nervously. "That's why I can't let you think the things you are thinking. I don't care what you feel or how emotional you are right now. You're probably about to go into heat again. It is quite late in spring. My point is that you cannot love Sesshomaru, or what you _think he should be_. Believe me, no matter what Rin has done to him, demons don't change very much. He will still kill you if he finds out."

"You think I'd actually act on my insignificant childhood fantasies?" Lola squeaked.

"He'd pick up on it if you ever remembered even one fantasy while in his presence. Lola – I really do care for you. You remind me so much of Inuyasha…"

Lola stood up with blinding speed. Kagome recoiled, making a tiny sound of surprise. Lola glared down at her.

"Shut up. You're just like my mother. You just watch me from a distance and try to give me advice. You take notes on my strength and behavior. You tell me you love me and want what's best for me – you're just like Onigen. Everything you do for me is fueled by your sick curiosity and your even sicker obsession!"

Kagome gnashed her teeth. Her eyes set sternly on the dirt. Well, she did care for Lola more than Lola cared for her. She knew that already. It was only after she was coaxing Lola out of one of her power-deprived comas that Lola returned her affection. Kagome figured she couldn't blame Lola; Lola was messed up. She had lived a terrible life. Plus, she was a demon. Human emotions didn't come too easy for them. Still. Lola was so much like Inuyasha. Even like Sesshomaru. And ignorant and foolish and always rushing into things – like herself. When Kagome thought of Lola, she thought of the little half-Bat-Demon girl, Shiori. She just knew that there was something more to her.

"I'm not your daughter," Lola breathed.

"I'm not your mother." Kagome's head hung. "Do you want me to get Inuyasha for you? To protect you from Sesshomaru and your mother?"

Lola's hand was suddenly lifting Kagome's chin. Kagome flinched. Lola frowned, searching for Kagome's eyes. "You have both been like parents to me. But I'm an adult. I – I need to do something. I need to gain power by myself. The best thing for me to do _right now _is leave this place before my mother comes back. She will know I'm not here and she'll leave. Hopefully, I'll have enough of a head start that maybe I could find that Togosai person that made the Tetsusaiga. I'll ask him to make me a weapon."

"First of all, this is the flaw in your plan: the sword he makes for you will be a piece of metal unless you supply him with the fang of a strong demon. Second: You won't be able to recover when you overuse yourself without me around."

Lola held in the honor-crazy beast that she was. "I'd been fine before you."

Kagome stood up and looked down at the woman angrily, like a mother scorned to the breaking point. "No, you hadn't. You were stealing your food and avoiding the eyes of all humans and demons. You killed every time you got scared – and let me tell you: You were _paranoid_. And every time you went into your little comas, you stayed right where you had fallen and your unconscious body went through _who-knows-what_. It was days until you awoke again, and then could hardly move! Every day you got closer and closer to transforming. Every day you lost your mind a little more. Every day your demonic blood threatened to consume you.

"If I hadn't taught you how to use your power through enchantments and not violence, you'd be finished by now!"

Lola turned sharply away from Kagome. "How dare you. Do you not know who I _am_? I can feel what I want to feel. I can allow my demon side to consume me because I _am _a demon."

Kagome placed a hand on Lola's shoulder, only for Lola to shrug her violently off. "I _do_ know who you are, Onigen."

Lola froze. Kagome knew, from the tightness in Lola's back, that Lola was wide-eyed. "Yes. I _am _supposed to be the next Onigen. I'm a failure."

"You're not. You haven't looked deep enough into yourself to realize your true power."

"I'm fully matured. I would have realized if I had some secret power. But no. I don't even have _claws_."

"Lola, that's what Inuyasha and I have been trying to help you with. Your childhood was so traumatic. It's only natural that your powers have hidden."

Lola clenched her fists and growled suddenly. "_Lord_ _Sesshomaru!_" Kagome covered her ears instinctively, shrinking in on herself. Lola's cries were explosions of pent-up demonic aura.

Kagome shuddered. Also, he never got over the feeling of terror when someone insulted Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru strode into view, his small smile expectant. His eyes were cold. He was smirking inwardly.

"Why have you been listening? Have you joined my mother?"

"Never."

"Then why do you care to listen to a conversation being held between Kagome and myself? Do enlighten me so that I won't have to tear you to shreds. Don't tell me it's because you know what I felt as a child – and I know you do – and you wanted to _boost your ego_. Buddha knows you need to." The confidence in her high-pitched voice was overpowering.

At first, Sesshomaru was going to growl something truly frightening. Lola stood ready to fight to the death. This was a matter of her pride. But then, Kagome spoke. "Please, please don't kill her…" she pleaded pathetically.

Kagome leaned back against the wall of a hut. There were tears in her eyes. Lola noticed that the sound of Kagome's breathing was the soft crying that broke her heart. She turned to Kagome. Out of nowhere, the half-demon embraced the priestess. Lola had had her turn to cry and be comforted. She put Kagome through a lot and though she couldn't understand she knew that it was her fault. It was Kagome's turn to be comforted.

His eyes were steady on Lola. "I care nothing of your childhood dreams. Today, I could help you realize your power," Sesshomaru said quietly.

Lola's eyes flared with absolute and utter hatred. Even betrayal. She smoothed Kagome's hair as if Kagome was suddenly the daughter figure. She then stormed from the building in a flourish.


	7. Revelation

Onigen | Mariah Bryant

Revelation

Lola refused to speak to anyone. Her mother stayed at bay, somewhere beyond the forest. Sesshomaru and Kagome planned on killing Onigen by themselves the moment they sensed her nearing, Kagome hoped, before Lola knew. Sesshomaru didn't mention Lola at all when plotting, though. Rin walked about in the village, admiring pottery and such. Jaken went with her when his boss allowed him to.

Alone in her hut, Lola searched herself in a mirror. This mirror had been given to her by Kagome. This mirror … seemed very special. When Lola looked into it, she saw who she truly wanted to be. Though it was not an incredible powerful Jaguar-Demon that stared back at her, the mirror pleased Lola well enough with its contents. A girl with a bruised, scratched, swollen face – so swollen that one of her blackened eyes was shut – grinned up at Lola. She had just obtained turquoise tattoos on her face, showing the world that she was a demon.

The girl looked exactly as Lola had on the day she had escaped, not too long ago.

Before she had been tamed by Kagome, she had been truly happy with herself. She had hated everyone and everything else. Even Sesshomaru, for when he had not rescued her, he had abandoned her. That was wonderful. Sometimes, when she had felt a human nearby when she was stealing her dinner, she feigned accidentally causing a clatter. Then she had to kill the human because he or she would, upon investigation, lay their eyes upon her. She had also loved when she was being chased by demons. She loved being the mouse. She often outsmarted the cat.

But when she was found … Lola shuddered at the thought. Everything was a whimsical game until she had to fight a demon. If she lost and the demon got away, it was soon much bigger demons that she had to fight.

Lola grinned back at the girl in the mirror. "Show me my power."

The mirror, as always when asked to do that, showed only Lola's own reflection.

Lola's smile fell.

It was only a few hours later that Lola awoke in a hot flash. It made her grit her teeth but she did not scream. She threw herself off of her cot. Her hands quickly smoothed her hair and her feet swiftly carried her into the street.

The sun was beginning to set.

"Oh, no," she moaned. Her eyes swept over the street rapidly. She passed by shops overflowing with drinking men and women. They did not look up; she was silent.

The hot flash got worse and worse. Her bones were on fire.

Her speed hiked. Her fingernails started to grow into the flesh of her palms. Her breathing began sounding like snarling. Her long hair, in a loose braid that fell to her knees, started swaying on its own accord. She felt her teeth getting sharper. She cried out; her back was elongating.

"No, no, _no!_"

The edge of the village was nearing. She had to make it to the trees.

_Is it the time of the year? Or is it that Onigen is calling to me? _Lola thought grimly.

A dark figure suddenly stepped out into her path. She squeaked and slid to a stop. With the setting sun she could not make out the man's features. However, she recognized the fluff and the smell well enough.

"Get out … of my way," she hissed.

"What is the matter with you?" Sesshomaru shot back. He took a step toward her. Lola jumped to the side.

She squeezed her eyes tight. "LEAVE ME!" Her heart was beating out of control. Gasping, she opened her eyes again. Sesshomaru was gone.

"He had never been there," she whispered to herself.

She was correct.

Hot tears began spilling from her eyes. "I'm hallucinating! Dammit."

Rin, hidden in the shadows, knew what she was seeing and could not turn away. She _knew _what she saw. It was the love of her life and he was interested in a slightly taller woman than herself. Sesshomaru appeared before her, frowning.

"Rin, why are you following me?"

Rin would not say so aloud, but in her head she hissed, _How dare you_.

Sesshomaru dropped his head sadly. His silvery-white hair fell around him. "Rin, that woman is pathetic. There is nothing to love; her soul moves too quickly and is unfocused. I only care for her because she is a girl from my past."

The girl rested her head against his chest. Sesshomaru stroked her back. "There are things I was once told I would have to do. I made myself ready to do those things. Then, the cause was eliminated. That was what I thought. Suddenly, the girl who was once the center of my world – the one I was supposed to protect – is before me again. At first I did not even recognize her. She needs my help, Rin. I am still programmed to help her. This is who I must be – at least until the Jaguar Queen is dead."

"You are lying to me. You love her. I don't have to have animalistic eyesight to see that!" Rin paused. "I am so relieved that this is a feeling you have had for longer than a week. I was worried that you had fallen for her because of her looks and her voice and interesting power. I thought … you might have been leaving me for someone you had just met. I saw you changing! The moment you first saw her, you began changing. You hated her throughout the change, yes, but when it was finished you loved her again."

"If I have changed, I will soon be my old self again." Sesshomaru was very grim. Rin was wide-eyed. His hand had stopped moving. He was angry with her. "I do not doubt your intuition regarding me. I probably do love her. My father worked very hard to instill that in me. But, once you hear the story you will understand."

_Tell me the story, Sesshomaru. Go on and have that much nerve. Tell your love story to your intended_, Rin thought harshly. She was quiet.

Sesshomaru could feel her anger pulsing from within her. He knew she had to hear the story, though. "My mother was a witch. When I was with her, I was a silent child. When I was with my father, I ranted about the sky. He saw a lot of promise in me. I could control any uprising, he said. I could help him expand the territory. I would be as great as he was; he assumed this, but never told me or pressured me. He talked with my mother. My mother loved the direction in which he was thinking. She proposed that I help her trick the invading Jaguar Demons into being submissive. Their leader got on her nerves; the woman was as beautiful as my mother was and dressed skimpily and had raven-black hair. My mother was aware that the woman was boasting an immensely powerful daughter. The girl was almost as powerful as I was even in her young age. That was according to the Jaguar Queen's exaggeration. My mother decided that I should marry the girl. Steal her away from her family so that the Jaguars would have to be our allies. My father disliked the idea. He hated the thought of me using such slyness and concealed motives. I was a man, however, and with my mother's encouragement I got to take control of the situation. I visited the Jaguar castle along with my mother. After a few visits, I knew I had the Jaguar Queen at my disposal. When my father learned what we were doing, he decided to make the best of it. He told me to protect the girl. I honored my father. Eventually, he had talked love for the girl right into my heart. Onigen took me to see her daughter. The girl was in a cage, watching me with incredible defiance. I asked why the princess was caged. Her mother replied, 'You must break a horse so that it will not run away.' From that day on, I knew what I had to do. I had to bring down the ruthless Jaguar-Demons and their leader, and I had to rescue the princess. But before I could execute any plan, Onigen announced that her daughter was dead. There was no explanation. Suddenly, I was a man without a betrothed or a reason to live. My intent became to be better than my father – even if it meant that I had to slay him to prove it. My heart became very dark. I spent time with my mother until she was murdered by a secret group of Jaguar-Demons called the Guard. I, too, was nearly killed by this massive army of specialized demons. Onigen, the Jaguar Queen, hadn't intended for me to live, but I did. But my mother had died because my father had been off concerning himself with Inuyasha's mother. My father looked pathetic in my eyes."

Sensing that he was beginning to ramble, Rin cut in. "Why didn't you kill Onigen?"

Sesshomaru looked down into Rin's eyes solemnly. "I don't know. I lost my mind for a few years. My mission was to recover my father's swords. I forgot about Onigen. I forgot whom the girl was that I thought of so often. And then I met you and forgot even her face."

Rin felt herself blush. "Oh."

Sesshomaru smiled and laughed softly. "Yes. _Oh_. See, Rin, I do not love you because it is my duty. I love you because I cannot help it."

The young woman smiled back, her smile full and glorious. Sesshomaru bent down and kissed those lips he loved. He all but melted in her arms. Complete bliss surrounded them.

And then Lola's image came into Sesshomaru's mind. He frowned and pulled away. The most remorseful look was on his face. "Rin, Onigen is near. I have to go. Please find Jaken and hide. That woman will take revenge on me in any way that she can."

Her demon blood poured through her veins. She was not running from the villagers to spare their lives; she had no choice but to follow her instincts. Her legs settled into the snapping motion of running. She was starting to bend down. Her lengthy arms were growing. Her ears were perked and facing outward. She was soon on four legs. Her mind kept wandering back to the village. She could not help it. The village was far behind. With her increasing speed, however, it made no difference. She could turn around at any minute. Blood and ungodly pleasure awaited her if she did!

This was either that she was in heat or something worse.

What made Lola consider that her fate might have been worse than heat was this: Her instincts were pulling her to something that felt different from her options of prey. The pull was insanely strong. Though she could feel the touch of things that weren't touching her, this other, duller feeling overruled. She thought that maybe it was the summoning of her Alpha. Her mother must have once again been close by.

Lola's mind didn't see trees for a moment. She saw blackness. She felt small again, and cold. She felt impending doom. What she was seeing was a flashback. Her mother's undeniable pull … her unquestionable orders … always demanded Lola's utmost attention at times during which Lola had wanted most to forget. No other member of the pack had ever been able to disobey, either. But none felt any sympathy for the daughter who had to do what her mother instructed. It was expected, right? Then why did something that was expected feel so terrible? Lola had always hated that pull. She wanted to die when she remembered its feel.

She was actually feeling it this time. Her hands – having temporarily become claws – would not respond, though. They would not rise to her neck. She could not stop steadily panting. Her tears did not defeat the rhythm. She could not even sob. Her body was under an intense spell.

Yes, Lola knew that she was in for hell.

And she was filled with hatred. She hated more than only her mother. She hated Kagome, who would go to check on her and, when Kagome didn't find her, who would come looking for her. She hated Sesshomaru simply for being Sesshomaru. She hated Rin for bringing Sesshomaru to her village when the girl had been too stupid to run from a battle. She hated her father for getting tricked into reproducing with a seductress demon. She hated her pack and all of the vassals for not thinking for themselves. She hated the villagers. They liked having entertainment. They liked to say that they had been the second village to adopt the idea of 'living with demons' – excluding a floating mountain for which Lola didn't care. They never asked how she was feeling. They were so ignorant.

The smell assaulted her nose. Again she stretched her paws ahead of her body to stop herself. She looked around, unable to see the source.

Onigen's heart-melting laugh echoed all around her. "My daughter! If you have an itch, scratch it! You _are_ the next me. You can get away with anything. Surely you've figured that out?"

"Actually, no. I haven't. I've never gotten away with anything in my entire life. Your goons have always been waiting to attack me."

"That's how I know that you have scratched in the past, my love," the demon cooed.

Lola looked at the incredible goddess standing in the tree canopy above her. Her teeth gnashed together. "Then you also know that I was nearly killed for it?"

She laughed so hard that she had to clutch her belly. The tree was perfectly still. "Oh, my dear, I do know. They were only teasing you. It was much fun for them, especially when you began to sob over that pathetic blood-bag. It was much fun for me to hear about it!"

Lola made no reply.

She decided that she had the age and authority to challenge her mother, though. She looked up at the tree opposite her mother's. It was too easy for a cat to leap into the branches without breaking them. She met her mother's gaze with ferocity and strength. Inside she was shaking with the worst fear she had ever felt. Her body was trying to faint.

Her mother lifted her chin, eyeing her daughter appraisingly. Her black hair swirled around her. Her red lips shone more than a precious stone. "Well. Look at you. How graceful you have become. Darling, what name do you go by now?"

"Onigen Lola."

Onigen smirked. "Not _yet _fitting, but I'm glad you're getting used to the title that will soon be yours."

Lola grinned evilly. "Oh, yes. And you must warn your vassals. They will be paying for the many long years they've been after me. The entire court will be under fire."

"Will do, sweetheart." Onigen winked. "I know you will make me proud." She sighed and looked up at the stars that were appearing. "My daughter, when ever will you be able to face me?"

"I'm staring you dead in the eyes right now."

Onigen finally appeared cross. She frowned back at Lola. "What delicious gall. I would simply _love _to see you back it up."

"Oh, I can."

"What has that Kagome taught you?"

"I would put on a _recital _for you but I don't feel the need to impress you."

"Shame. I was going to try to _outdo_ you," Onigen said sarcastically. Her pretty lips smiled at her daughter. The turquoise in her irises seemed to be dancing in a flame-like manner. "Do you remember the trick I taught you when you were little? The one you never had the feel for?"

"Are you speaking of the torture methods you tried to instill in my head or the seductiveness, enough of which I simply wasn't born bearing?" Lola said through her teeth. She felt herself crouching lower, as if to pounce.

"Neither. I tried to teach you of the illusiveness and the _illusions _of a jaguar. Those other two … you have mastered quite well."

Lola ignored her mother's jibe.

The woman looked at Lola passively from the corner of her eye, clasping her hands behind her back. "Well, you _did _manage to capture Lord Sesshomaru's attention at the age of _five_."

Onigen sauntered to her daughter, stepping from twig to twig with a weightlessness that could have only been flotation. Lola did not move away. "I want you to hurry up and become strong, my dear. Until you do, I have to keep pushing you out of my bosom."

Lola's true form was the normal height of a jaguar – to her mother's human form's waist. The sleek, black, triple-tailed jaguar looked with her large eyes into the eyes of her mother. She knew a terrible thing was coming. She could do nothing but await it. She couldn't have run if she had wanted to. Her mother circled her; she waited.

"Oh, my boys: Do come closer now," Onigen purred.

Lola lost her breath.

Actual _warriors _of the Jaguar-Demon pack, complete with limited armor and thick arms and legs and thick tails and lean stomachs and muscular chests, slipped around the trees silently beneath them. They _far _were larger than Lola was – about ten times, to be exact. They were each a thousand times stronger. She was horribly outnumbered. These men were legendary. She was beyond outmatched.

Onigen gauged Lola's reaction. She frowned. "Daughter, we will not kill you. We do not want you to die. These men know, too, that they are likely going to die – if not tonight, then when you are queen. They want the pack to be the best. They are willing. You have to be too, eventually. We have to shape you into me." She stroked Lola's back.

"I will never be like you. When I do become Onigen, things are going to change. You will be screaming in your grave." Her tails whipped at the same time. They connected with Onigen's flesh very audibly.

Her mother drove her claws into Lola's back. Lola winced as the poison began to spread.

"Oh, dear. It seems that you will have a rather horrible night. I must leave you to it. But first … since you won't be there to hear with the rest of the villagers…" Onigen grinned at Lola and stopped pacing around her. "I will tell you now. That Inuyasha fellow? He's half-dead, awaiting me back in the den."

_What?_

Onigen chuckled. In a flash, she was lithely jumping toward the village. Before Lola could sprint after her, three warriors had leapt into the trees. They were growling lowly. They sounded like dogs.

Lola took a few steps back. Four legs and three tails were natural to her. She could balance well. But when she felt _this _way…

The trees were filled with warriors. Yet more waited beneath her. They did not waste time rushing her. She kept leaping further up into the canopy. The branches began to complain. Her heartbeats pounded in her head.

They attacked. Lola tried to fight back. She tried to use her enchantments and curses. She couldn't. Her mind and soul didn't want to. For a few moments, she allowed the biting and tearing and ripping. She liked that she didn't _have _to fight back.

There were other matters to take care of, though! She had to find Inuyasha! She knew that he could probably defeat her mother, but she also knew that her mother did have a way with illusions. That was the lesson: Her mother had implied that she had used a strong illusion on Inuyasha. Lola prayed from the very bottom of her soul that Onigen hadn't used Kikyo as Inuyasha's bait. He would never forgive Lola for letting that happen. Kagome would stop loving her altogether. Lola knew that she was the one who gave half-demons a bad reputation of weakness and stupidity. She hated herself.

Finally, responding to her desperate pleas, her body gave way. She screamed with the incredible pain. Her bones compressed and folded. Her muscles and organs were pushed. Her very brain remolded itself.

The warriors' already small target was suddenly too small. They halted on the branches.

Lola slipped between the branches and fell a ways. She didn't allow herself to land in front of yet more warriors. She ran with all of her might. Her demonic blood still kept her, well, demonic. She was very fast and light in the treetops.

So were her gorgeous pursuers. Their fangs had ripped out major chunks of her back and shoulders. They would be able to follow her scent anywhere now.

Her only choice was to kill them somehow…

Huge claws dug deep into her back. The roar of the man did something to paralyze Lola's mind. She was falling. He was tearing her up. She felt all of the pain and could do nothing.

Oh, the pain she was causing Kagome.

The shriek came from her throat without warning. Her palms were already facing the attacker. "_Aribithicol de amundash_. Die!"

There were strings of energy connected to the warrior through her hands. The words she said gave the strings a command. They activated the strings. Their mission was to purify and kill the demon. The way that she said the words, though, was different this time than most. This time, instead of passing on to the other world, the demon's power was sucked painfully into Lola. The warrior moaned. Lola let out a high-pitched wail.

She flipped in the air to land on her feet. When she and the dead jaguar's body touched ground, the bounce dislodged his claws from her. He turned to dust a few moments later. By then, she was running again.

_I have to do that a lot more. Can I do it the exact same way? _Lola surveyed her strength. The world was blurring. _No, apparently not._

She heard three sets of paws fast approaching behind her. Her heightened senses allowed her to time it perfectly. Her body screamed with the effort. She spun, using one leg as a counterbalance and the other to stand on. Her arms also aided the spin rate. She screamed the curse again.

She connected three strings to two of the jaguars. Only two got the third, though. She did what she could. It wasn't enough. The jaguars only stopped and lay down, panting. She was getting dangerously close to passing out. Even the energy she was gaining from the warriors wasn't enough to refuel her body.

She moaned and kept running. There were already jaguars running in the trees above her head.

That was when a thought occurred to her: She would never catch up to Onigen. If she did, she couldn't kill her mother. The best thing to do was to go to the den alone. She knew she could get Inuyasha to safety herself. Going to the village would do nothing. It would only waste precious time. Inuyasha was probably hallucinating, feverish, and slowly bleeding to death.

What a way to think. That was the least that could have been is fate! He might have already been dead.

Lola stopped and whirled her body around and was sprinting again – faster this time. Her attackers had a hard time matching her agility.

_Oh, no. I'm not going to make it,_ Lola thought, and small tears came to her eyes.

A roar erupted above her. She didn't look up. She only swerved. She wasn't fast enough.

Just where had she thought she was running to, anyway? Well, all animals can find their homes. Even if they don't want to claim the dens as 'their homes.'


	8. Sesshomaru

Onigen | Mariah Bryant

Sesshomaru

The shininess in the distance, coupled with the blinking stars of the Earth, promised sanctuary for Lola. Jaguars loved the water. Lola limped to the edge of the pond and collapsed.

Where had the other warriors gone? There had easily been thirty. Lola had only killed seven before she blacked out, and it had only been for a few seconds. Their orders had not been to retreat, even to attack again later. Their orders had been to torture Lola until they all died, but to allow her to live.

Lola's mind quickly began swirling above her. She thought of how wonderful it was that her curses had begun sounding more like jaguar roars and how her hands finally resembled claws during a battle. (They were claw-like enough, with the sharp energy wands.) She thought about the stars that blinked near her head and far, far away. She thought about the cold water touching her feet and ankles. She thought about the sleeping flowers all around her. And then she thought no more…

Her eyes began to open. She felt like an old man who had was deprived of his opium. She sat up without using her hands; they felt as if they were on fire. She was very stiff. She knew, though, that her wounds had almost healed.

A beautiful man was sitting beside her, watching the sun rise. His long white hair and thoughtful, stern-looking face would have, at any other time, come across as vain to her. But she realized that she was wrong. Sesshomaru had stopped considering himself before others. It was evident.

"Lola, you and I must save my brother. You are the only one who can lead me to the den. You know Onigen's tricky ways. There are about fifty paths that she apparently traveled."

"Where is Kagome?" _The warriors must not have followed my scent to attack me again because Sesshomaru was with me_. _But for just how long has that been so?_

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure. I had been following you from the beginning. I never left."

_So maybe I wasn't hallucinating last night?_ "It doesn't matter. Onigen couldn't have killed Kagome. If she captured Kagome, we will find her when we infiltrate the den."

Sesshomaru didn't respond. He handed Lola what looked like a big mound of fur. "You must be hungry."

She smelled the thing. Yes, it smelled exactly like something a jaguar would hunt. She took it carefully by the fur. She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose and let out a small hiss. She made quick work of pulling the skin off. She devoured everything else, leaving behind the brain, bones, and a few other items. Sesshomaru paid her the animals' courtesy of averting his eyes while she ate. Lola felt oddly indebted.

"Thank you." She wasn't entirely sure what to say.

Sesshomaru stood. "We should be off. Inuyasha, even as strong as he is, could not survive losing even one appendage and I happen to know that that's Onigen's specialty."

Lola realized that he was making a small joke referring to his missing left arm. She smiled. Sesshomaru had come to realize that his brother was great. He still understood himself to be more demonic. It was a true thing.

Lola and Sesshomaru walked. Lola wondered why Sesshomaru was allowing himself such a slow pace. Uncertain, Lola kept their walking pace pretty fast. Sesshomaru was going slow so that Lola would have enough energy to have an impact once they reached the den.

To break the silence Lola asked about Rin and Jaken.

"Jaken is taking care of Rin."

Lola didn't like that his answer was so short. She dove deeper into the topics. "How did you meet Rin?"

"When Inuyasha learned how to use the Windscar it was in a battle with me. Rin had run away from her village. She was an orphan and had stolen food. Her parents had been killed by demons. She found me lying against a tree and offered me food and checked on me often. The Wolf-Demon tribe was in the area and they killed her. I was able to bring her back with the Sword of Heaven. We just keep paying each other back our mounting pile of debts."

Lola hadn't imagined she would get that much information on the subject. One of the facts she observed was that Sesshomaru loved the little human girl. And that made Lola very bitter. She tried not to show it by turning away.

"I am very sorry that she was hurt."

"You have apologized enough already."

They walked a while more in silence. Lola, twiddling her thumbs, decided to come out and ask what was on her mind – something that Sesshomaru would never have considered doing. "Did you kill those Jaguar-Demons last night?"

"I crippled them. It is not my business that they should die. I am only concerned with keeping the map alive that will save my brother."

"I never pictured you as the sentimental type."

"He was my father's son. Sometimes things happen that mean that I cannot be sedentary."

Lola nodded. "I can understand that."

Sesshomaru did something shocking. He asked Lola a question, expecting an answer as one would in a conversation. "It's none of my business, but what does Onigen want from you? It really does seem as if she wants you to become more powerful than her."

Lola glared at the grass. "Well, it is rather complicated. My mother planned me. She tricked a human man. I was an experiment. She thought that the power of a demon, mixed with the determination, arrogance, emotions, and compulsiveness of a human, would create a superior being. She was convinced that the answer was yes, even after she had given birth to me. The human parts of me – curiosity, hope, and rebelliousness – were weaknesses that needed to be beat out of my head. I can't help what I am, though. She failed. She tried to make me grim and evil. I was beaten so often and yelled at for my weakness. I was forced to kill. I hated it. I was beaten when I cried. My every expression had to be perfect. But I always wore a human expression. I had to escape. So I escaped. It has done nothing to impair my mother's plans for me, however. I am still violent and power-hungry. She is still able to teach me through her vassals and through fear that keeps me running. She is still able to break my spirit. But every time she does … I survive."

Sesshomaru was quiet for a few moments. Lola couldn't see his eyes go wild for a minute with a deep grief. He could think of nothing to express how sorry he was to have failed her. Then he thought of the unbreakable Rin and was able to whisper a bit of kindness. "Humanity is not a flaw."

"Being a half-demon is a real pain, though. You know, Kagome has tried to break me in the same way. She wants to make me calmer. She has succeeded, too. That is, until this month in spring comes during which I resort to my most animalistic instincts. It's at the worst in the afternoon until before dawn."

_She talks a lot_, Sesshomaru thought. _She wants me to answer. But what is there to say? I cannot relate to her_.

"How far is the den?"

Lola was offended that he wanted to change the subject. He was practically asking how much longer he had to walk with her. She answered shortly, "Three days' walk. We don't have that kind of time, I'm sure…"

"I promised you I would help you realize your power. We have three days, then."

Lola looked up at Sesshomaru's eyes. She sensed that he felt he was paying her back for something. She didn't have the heart to ask about it. "Okay," she said.

Sesshomaru's feet weren't moving, were they? He was a glowing blur. His intention was to have Lola attempt to match his speed. She was channeling her demon side to little avail. She ran faster and faster and could not feel herself glowing. At the same time, though, she did not feel herself tiring.

_I thought that a half-demon's transformation into a full demon was a bad thing. Inuyasha lost all reasoning. How was Lola able to transform last night?_

Lola bowed her head. Sesshomaru was so far ahead and circling back _again_. She knew she was fastest when on four legs. Perhaps her speed only came in that form. Her human-looking body maybe wasn't built for Sesshomaru's speed.

She then realized something else. Her hands were stinging again. Actually, she felt the pain even in her shoulders and neck. Lola looked down at her hands. Normally the energy strings weren't visible. Right then, they were. They were glowing turquoise with her demonic markings. They ran all throughout her body, just beneath her skin. They pulsed.

Sesshomaru was running beside her, matching her pace. "Keep going."

"_Ahetdoriaf_." The word came to her from nowhere. Cool liquid flowed through her body.

Sesshomaru was still beside her but he was glowing in the same way she was. He smiled in that grim way that he did. "Very nice. Perhaps we could arrive this evening if you could keep up that speed."

Lola knew she couldn't. She was already slowing down. Trying to act as if she wasn't weakening, she created an alibi. "I want to try to bring on my own transformation. I want to enter my den in my true form."

Sesshomaru's eyes showed knowing. He nodded. He veered away from Lola a bit. She stopped running and boggled. He actually smiled – probably because the transformation worked his jaw and teeth so much. His eyes, normally very calm, were wide and wild and red. His silken hair rose around him. Lola was affected by the electricity the man suddenly radiated. He did not scream when his entire body changed shapes and sizes and even colors. He did not cry out.

And there, before Lola, was a dog demon. He stood as tall as Onigen and was even more beautiful. Certainly she felt a lot more powering coming from him than she felt from her mother. Part of her, being as she was used to the scariness of her mother, thought immediately of how friendly he looked – at least in the ears and tail. Another part of her saw that, in the legs and face, Sesshomaru's true form showed exactly how powerful he was. His eyes showed the evil power. They were like pools of lava. His legs … she knew that if he decided to hit her, she would be obliterated on impact. Lola couldn't help but notice, too, that he wasn't too overly done in the chest like the jaguar warriors. What had once looked like a garment had obviously changed into a curly display of … hair.

It must not been easy for a dog to have only three limbs – especially when it was one of his front legs that was gone.

Lola felt as small as a bug.

Sesshomaru made a sound. It was as if he was prompting her.

Lola remembered how she felt when she had had three tails and four legs. She remembered the feeling, and wished for its return. Again, a word came to her mind after it had spilled out of her mouth: "_Ahetdoriaf._"

_If she can call on her power with that one word, why did she not know to say it before today?_

This transformation was too quick to draw tears. Lola's quick yelp from her mouth was instantly a roar from her muzzle. There she lay on her side, a Jaguar-Demon. She blinked a few times, unused to seeing through such large eyes. She started to smile with anticipation. She stood and shook her three tails. Her paws patted the ground, adjusting.

Sesshomaru met her eyes meaningfully.

Lola was still looking up at him. He was still massive. She, however, felt that she had the body to better match him. She wasn't as much a _bug _as a _jaguar_.

"So, what is that word you are using? Is that a curse or an enchantment?" _If either, she is not displaying her true form_.

"It's my birth-given name." Lola snapped her teeth together, pleased with the sound. "Let's go."

Sesshomaru had to be slow for Lola again because his step equaled five of hers. Still, the trees blurred past. Her mind as functioning with enough speed that Lola could make out them all.


	9. HalfDemon to HalfDemon

Onigen | Mariah Bryant

Half-Demon to Half-Demon

Running beside him, the world slowed. The wind, a moment ago so loud, was silent. The trees that melded together were single and elegant.

Was it ridiculous for a woman to feel nervous to be going home?

Lola felt her collar getting tighter. The leash's tug, though, was loosening as she neared home. The place she hated.

"I cannot say what state your brother will be in," Lola warned.

"He has gotten a handle on the Tetsusaiga. It would surprise me if he hasn't escaped already."

Lola frowned. She knew better.

"How many are there?"

"There are one hundred royals and five hundred warriors. There are roughly eight hundred vassals. Then there is the guard. They are two thousand strong, but they aren't always at the den. On top of that, all throughout the land there are groups of mercenaries beneath them. They do the dirty work. Then there are the elderly and the children. They live closer to the den for protection."

"And the women?"

"The guard. The mercenaries. We are a feminine-run civilization."

Sesshomaru wasn't very surprised. He had been to the Continent and seen the same amongst some of the Monkey-Demon tribes. Women were often a bother to him, but many – such as Kagome and Rin – were fitter to govern than he and Inuyasha were.

"There is no king?"

"Male concubines."

This made Sesshomaru laugh. The princess had used a funny tone. "Well. That's different."

"We _did _emigrate from the Continent, you know." She grinned at him.

"Aren't they Confucius?"

"The humans are, yes."

Sesshomaru sighed. "Japan is simply too small for me these days. However, I do not wish to go to the Continent."

"I've heard of other continents."

"Hmm."

Sesshomaru's devilish red eyes … Lola wasn't sure if he was looking at her or not. She was very quiet and ran in a very straight line. Maybe the Dog Demon was thinking of his human girl. Maybe he was thinking of his brother. Perhaps he was remembering seeing her hundreds of years ago in the den.

She didn't regret not knowing what it was that Sesshomaru was contemplating. When she was little her mother had often been able to read her thoughts. Onigen knew when her daughter was feeling left out. Humans felt that way a lot. Anyhow, Onigen would then let Lola in on whatever was going on – executions … sacrifices to the stars … that sort of thing. And she had usually made Lola hold the knife.

"We are getting close. I can smell the den," Sesshomaru declared.

"It's a wonder we haven't encountered any mercenaries along the way," Lola commented.

"You're right. They are probably all awaiting us."

Lola hated that thought. She knew he was correct, though. She wondered how even Sesshomaru would be able to handle thousands of demons – and the royals weren't at all weak. Lola harbored no doubt in her mind that she would die. She was happy, though. She wanted to finally escape.

Most men would have thought it more honorable to kill himself than to be killed by an enemy.

Not Lola. That involved no true fight. Lola's death of choice was surrounded by thousands of the enemy, having killed hundreds.

Sesshomaru, on the other hand, did not seem mentally prepared for the fact that he might lose. He certainly didn't seem to realize that Inuyasha was likely already dead.

Lola stopped suddenly. Sesshomaru turned sharply. "What is it?" he asked, his voice rough.

"They won't expect us to come from _within _the den."

Sesshomaru had to change into his human form to fit through the small mercenary tunnel, and Lola was tired from being in her true form. Sesshomaru's outfit was dirtied. Lola's was thin enough to not touch the sides of the tunnel. Sesshomaru had to bend over. (It was not awkward to watch.) Lola had her knees bent and her back slightly hunched; she was used to small spaces. They moved quickly, bent over their quietly pattering feet.

Lola's heart beat loudly. Sesshomaru worried that an opponent would hear it before their footsteps.

"Do you think my mother will already be here?"

He didn't reply. A stupid question from a scared little girl. A failed princess.

Lola thought of the horror she had felt when she had escaped. She had been so relieved afterward that she had cried and cried and passed out. (Then she had been on her toes for two months. Then the tortures were done waiting.) Why in seven hells was she sneaking back in? For Inuyasha.

It wasn't long until the labyrinth spat them out in a dark hallway. They went left at a straight-out run.

"Onigen does the worst of the days-long tortures back there, to the right. That's also where the prisoners are kept. However, knowing Onigen, she is torturing Inuyasha publicly. She wants us to hear him upon approach. We can probably find him at the mouth of the den or on the top of the mountain under heavy guard."

Sesshomaru's eyes were dark. Lola couldn't look back at him.

Lola heard the breathing of a Jaguar-Demon just in time. She quickly took a tunnel branching to the right. "Don't worry," she whispered, "it's a good tunnel. It leads upward into the mountain."

Sesshomaru felt as if he was running up a steep hill. "I noticed."

Suddenly Sesshomaru stopped. Lola had been running at such a speed that when he grabbed her shoulder, her feet shot out from under her. Sesshomaru whipped her around before she had recovered. Their eyes could see one another in the pitch black.

Lola was a hysterical mess. Her breathing was erratic. She was shaking and there were tears in her eyes. Her legs gave in, forcing Sesshomaru's hand on her shoulder to keep her aloft so that he could meet her gaze.

"Calm down. You'll get nothing done in your present condition. You don't want your mother to see you like this."

"I – I can take you to Inuyasha. You will have no problem snagging him and bringing him back to the tunnel. Me … I can't do this. I don't want my mother to see me this way. I know. I can't help it!"

"A moment ago you were ready to die. Then it wouldn't have mattered who had seen you and what you looked like."

Lola gasped. "What? How do you know that?"

"I just know who you are." _A brave, stupid warrior princess_.

That made her teeth clench. "Really? Do you, now?"

"Tonight I can kill your mother. You won't feel bad about it. Or you could wait and kill her later, after I've helped you increase your strength."

"Why wouldn't I feel bad about it?"

"Because your mother will look at me and see me as what she wanted me to be all those years ago: The key to Onigen's strength. You are Onigen as far as the world is concerned. Do you understand? You are strong."

"What are you saying? My mother wanted to marry you to gain you as a pawn." Lola was shocked. Was Sesshomaru saying he would marry her?

Sesshomaru's eyes were so sincere and he was reading her like a book. "Whether you and I are bonded or not will not matter to her. She will see me by your side and she will realize that I am fighting for _you _and not her. She will realize that she has failed."

So, he wasn't proposing. Lola was almost disappointed.

They were both wrong about Onigen's intentions. It was they who had just failed miserably.

"Sesshomaru, I know I'll sound exactly like Onigen when I say this, but … I won't be helped by a man whom I do not know and who has no feelings toward me. I won't allow you to kill my mother just because you can. It is my place. It is my destiny." Suddenly, Lola's eyes flamed and Sesshomaru felt a singing wave of demonic aura. "And do not chalk it up to chivalry! I can see past you, Sesshomaru. You're not in this to protect a female from danger." She was heavily hinting at something.

Sesshomaru lowered his voice. "Haven't you considered that perhaps I might do it anyway to become the leader of a large demon tribe? Perhaps I want the power for myself."

Lola barred her teeth unconsciously. "Then I will have to take you down. I _will _become Onigen."

"So this isn't about revenge to you?"

"Partially, maybe. My objective is to be Onigen."

"You'll be a vengeful ruler? You'll be your mother's replacement?"

Her head spun. "Damn, Sesshomaru! What _are _you trying to say?"

"You don't know what is best for you."

Lola laughed, fury erupting within her. "You think you know better than I do? You had the opportunity to be my father once and you passed it up. Sorry, now you don't have the right to say you know what is best for me."

Sesshomaru's grip on Lola's shoulder hadn't loosened though she was standing again. Sesshomaru glared at her. Something as deep as the ocean was in his eyes. "I couldn't be your father."

Lola still had no clue what he was saying. She could only focus, then, on the sounds she was hearing coming from within the mountain. "Wait, Sesshomaru. Let me go. I think I hear Kagome."

Sesshomaru cocked his head and pressed his ear to the dirt wall. His eyes got wider.

"And Rin." Lola looked at Sesshomaru uncertainly. "It looks as if we have the fight of our lives ahead of us. It has occurred to me just now: Onigen probably wants revenge against you."

Sesshomaru was running immediately, glowing again. Lola struggled at first but was soon matching his speed. He followed his ears out into an opening, taking the left instead of the right – where the slaves prepared meals. A larger hall with lights, pictures, and a throne. Then there was the balcony.

There was a beam held up by four poles. From the beam hung Kagome, Inuyasha, Rin, Jaken and even Shippo. Lola nearly hit her knees when she saw that they were hanging by chains around their wrists. Inuyasha was nearly bare and was covered in gashes and long cuts. Kagome's head leaned against her raised arm. From the back it looked as if she, too, was unconscious. She was also blindfolded. Jaken was whimpering less than Shippo, whose little fox legs were kicking blindly.

"Rin!" Sesshomaru gasped. The young girl didn't look as young when adorned in only bloody undergarments. Her head hung. Her hair was had fallen around her. He lurched outward to run to her.

The moment he did, Lola was in action.

"Ahaaaa!" Onigen screeched.

"_Arrraaaah!_" Lola roared.

Onigen's spear missed Sesshomaru when deflected by Lola's bare foot … which barely missed the blade. Lola spun in time to block the spear again with the palm of her hand.

"_Amundash_," she muttered quickly, and the energy strings wrapped around the spear, beginning to drain its power.

"Well, well. I had not expected you to come from the slaves' quarters. How fitting," Onigen teased. "Ah, sweetheart. You are so stupid to attack my castle while as weak as you are. Haven't you realized that this trap is for _Sesshomaru_?"

"Ha! You think you could take him?"

Suddenly the world was white flames. Onigen's and the spear's power mixed to become an intense explosion. All of it followed the energy strings connected to Lola's hand. She screamed and staggered backward.

There wasn't much left of her hand. She was in too much pain to respond to her mother's next blow. The spear stabbed deep into her shoulder.

Lola realized that it was only her need to survive that was keeping her mind still. She owed that need. She would survive, even if she had to cry to Sesshomaru for help.

She closed her eyes. "_Device iolack, et chearium demach oloaff_." The spear sucked on Onigen's power and backfired abruptly. With Onigen sprawling on the floor, screaming in pain and rage, the spear disappeared. It turned to smoke in her shoulder. Her shoulder blade protested painfully. She gritted her teeth and tried to take in her surroundings. There was something funny, though.

She had just destroyed a centuries-old heirloom passed to every Onigen. She smirked. She wouldn't need that worthless piece of trash. If she could destroy it, she didn't need it.

Blood gushed from her wound.

Her hand, however, didn't seem to have any blood at all. She risked assessing the wound. It wasn't bleeding because it was _growing back like a fingernail_. Or like the pads of a paw, rather.

Very abruptly it occurred to her that her power had increased at least by half since seeing Sesshomaru for the first time in hundreds of years. Lola was being unlocked. Her name had been unleashed.

Lola heard the sounds of Sesshomaru slicing through chains and Jaken babbling something frantically. The sounds of a crowd below entered her ears next. Lola knew there were a lot of Jaguar-Demons and vassals below the balcony. She also noticed the warriors gathering around herself and Onigen.

Onigen stood up. "Well, damn. I will not use any more useless weapons on you then, my dear. You have improved."

"MOTHER! Stop talking! SHUT UP!" Lola rushed Onigen. Without any weapons she called on her demonic teeth and claws. They did very little. She soon found her mother's poison in her system again.

"Fool," was all her mother uttered.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Lola attacked again using the sharp nails of her toes.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru was shedding tears over Rin's broken body. He had gotten everyone down and they were lying on the floor, moaning. Jaken and Shippo got up to tend to Kagome and Inuyasha. Shippo did not cry. Jaken went to Sesshomaru and hugged him, though his only arm was around Rin. "Lord, she will be fine. She is very strong," Jaken said, choking up.

"I hate that she is in this position again."

"Ugh!" Lola had a hand lodged in her ribcage.

Her mother tsked and pulled back. "Are you quite finished? I have to now show that man who it is that he turned down."

Lola watched Onigen saunter, swinging her hips, closer to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru left Jaken holding Rin and stood in front of his friends. Onigen had already pissed him off royally. If Sesshomaru took over, the fight would be over soon.

"What a wretched woman. I wouldn't have _walked behind _you, nevertheless backed you up."

Onigen laughed sharply. "Hell hath no fury, right? I'm sure you'll find, _Lord _Sesshomaru, that you are not so high on your horse."

Sesshomaru smiled evilly. His eyelids got lower. He cracked his fingers. "Let us see to that."

Onigen ran by him. Sesshomaru didn't flinch. The woman flipped over the edge of the rock balcony. The sea of spectators – warriors, the guard, and the mercenaries – parted. She landed gracefully and ran into the clearing. Sesshomaru looked down one last time at Rin, then turned and flew after her. She seemed only a little worried. Sesshomaru hated this woman. He transformed. His silence was worse than his roar. Onigen made a show of tilting forward her head and batting her eyes. She did this and her Jaguar-Demon form did, too. As Lola had thought before, they were nearly the same size. Sesshomaru was much taller. Onigen had more mass.

_I have two princesses to protect_, Sesshomaru thought. _And the most loyal of vassals and of friends, an incredible miko, and even a half-dead Dog-Demon lord._

Lola stood up slowly as her wounds healed. She closed her eyes. "Don't try to stop me, you dumb warriors. You're too big to fight me, anyway."

She stepped confidently to the edge of the cliff. Her eyes strayed over to Inuyasha and Kagome. Sesshomaru had laid them side-by-side. Little feisty Shippo looked back up at Lola, holding Kagome's hand. He nodded, his eyebrows pulled inward with complete defiance.

Lola nodded back sharply. "We all have to surpass our parents sooner or later." With that, she leapt. _Sesshomaru or Inuyasha will surpass the Great Dog Demon before I surpass my weak mother_, she thought to herself.

She transformed. Her true body sang. Then she was running. In no time, she took the final bound that launched her high over her mother. The electricity screamed to escape. From her paws sprang the turquoise electricity. Onigen cried out and smoked. A large wound on her back expanded deeper and deeper until it was taking off bits of her face.

Sesshomaru, three hundred yards away, took a step back.

Lola fell from Onigen's back, unconscious. The fall was great.

Onigen stopped screaming and was wincing through her teeth. She glared down at her daughter. Sesshomaru saw that Onigen was going to kill Lola and quickly got her attention. He was wrong, however, about what the Jaguar Queen was thinking. An enormous, momentous fight began.

Shippo and Jaken stood with their backs to the much larger Rin, Inuyasha, and Kagome. Shippo and Jaken were using all of their firepower. Not much would work on the giant warriors. Hearing the sounds of the battle behind them, they knew that they could not back down. They could not admit defeat. This was hardly the battle. They had to win. Otherwise, there wasn't much for which Lola and Sesshomaru were fighting.

The warriors were closing in. "Our orders are to fight for Onigen. We have reason to believe that killing you is in our queen's best interest," one literally growled.

"You obviously don't know what's in her best interest! If you kill us, Lord Sesshomaru will only elongate Onigen's death and make it a thousand times more painful than it would have been!" Jaken cried.

"YEAH!" Shippo stepped forward, hurling an explosion of green fire. The warrior who had spoken yelped and hobbled back, then dropped to roll on the ground. "And then he would have to kill everyone else here to let the steam out!"

Jaken turned to Shippo. "What is _that _supposed to mean? Are you calling my Master a hot-head?"

Unbeknownst to them, Rin was awakening. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, wincing at the pain. She then got a good look at the enormous demons before her. They were each as big as AhUn! One of the warriors leapt at Shippo with his claws outstretched. Rin grabbed Shippo into her arms and screamed. The beast missed.

Jaken turned toward Rin, using the Staff of Two Heads to try to get the warrior away from her.

Rin had to lay back to avoid getting hit. This meant that half of her body was hanging over the ledge. She pushed Shippo onto the rock. He scampered over to dissuade a warrior from slicing into Inuyasha.

Then the claws elongated. She began to cough blood.

Sesshomaru could smell this blood. "_Lola! _I'm begging you! WAKE UP!"

"Don't take your eyes off me!" Onigen roared.

Lola heard these things. She pushed the blackness away. She rose.


	10. Onigen

Onigen | Mariah Bryant

Onigen

As hard as it was to leave the fight that would be her mother's last and which would go on without her, Lola's thoughts became absorbed with the one demand of Sesshomaru.

This time there was interference from the thousands of demons. Lola was hit repeatedly. She kept going without engaging. It took three huge bounds to reach Rin.

"GET HER LEGS!"

She hurtled over the girl, tearing with her teeth into the attacker's neck. He would have survived but she was cursing him while she ripped his windpipe away. Jaken, behind her, grabbed Rin's legs before she fell over the edge.

In her Jaguar-Demon form she was no better than a single warrior, let alone dozens. However, she could feel her pent-up power returning to the forefront of her being. She was no longer a weak demon. She was the next Onigen. She tore and tore and cursed and hurled turquoise, crackling energy.

The ruckus was enough to bring – thank god – Inuyasha out of his unconsciousness. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded. Shippo and Jaken were chasing a Jaguar with their fire. Kagome … poor Kagome was in bad shape next to him. Inuyasha touched his wife's face gently. "Oh. It was Lola's mom. Damn, Kagome. I should have gone with you. I didn't have anything better to do, really…"

"INUYASHA!" came Shippo's shrill voice.

Inuyasha looked up, his ears twitching. He was too dizzy to rise but he did anyway. He also unsheathed the Tetsusaiga. He immediately recognized Lola's eyes in the skull and her tattoos on the body of a Jaguar-Demon. He didn't understand but he got to work.

More and more demons were running into the room with every second. The room was open and spanned all of the way to the other side of the mountain. It was a huge courtyard-type space. Lots of room for fighting.

The demons were trickling now. Jaken and Shippo could take care of them. Inuyasha had lain down beside Kagome again and was asleep. (Shippo wondered how the heck Inuyasha could sleep at a time like that. Jaken convinced Shippo that it was okay. Shippo then began to wonder who Jaken was fighting for – Sesshomaru or the corrupt Jaguar-Demons. Jaken, looking up [slightly] at Shippo, wondered if Shippo understood just how amazing the Inu brothers were.)

It seemed that Sesshomaru had been only holding Onigen off for Lola. To her surprise, when she arrived back at the fight Onigen was still standing and breathing normally. Sesshomaru stepped back and allowed Lola to avenge his brother, his little love, his friend and vassal, and herself.

Lola addressed her mother in her human form. Her entire body was exploding with the turquoise energy. Onigen saw what was happening to her soldiers and had begun to shed tears.

"You will pay!" she shrieked.

Lola furrowed her brows. Her mother attacked first. She quickly proved that she was agile enough to slice the big Onigen apart with her small claws. So Onigen became her human-looking self.

Onigen was bearing no weapons. She needed none. Jaguars have many powers of their own. An invisible tail struck Lola through the heart repeatedly. She ran straight at her mother. Before she reached the furious demon, she felt a claw rip deep onto the flesh of her face, spanning from her hairline to her jaw. She faltered for a moment. When she opened her eyes, her mother had surrounded her with images of Onigen.

Lola roared. "This world doesn't need any more of you!" she cried.

Onigen hissed and attacked her daughter from all sides.

She kept her head. She shot energy rods to every single one of the very physical projections. Blinking blood out of her right eye, she threw out energy. Screams surrounded her. She was pelted with tails and felt the sting of poison.

Lola knew somewhere within herself that she was likely dying. She had been hit too many times. Too much poison.

And her mother fought harder still. Onigen became one being, spread her arms, and let loose a mighty scream. Lola's heart stopped for a moment. Then she felt herself splatter against a few trees.

When things weren't so black, she saw Sesshomaru's face. There was emotion there, but it was unreadable. He took her hand and helped her up. They were deep in the forest. Lola was about to ask what had happened, disoriented, but then her mother's voice came to her ears. Sesshomaru stopped Lola from barreling through the trees back out into the open.

"I don't know what kind of demon you are. Maybe you are a half-demon. Maybe your human half had strong powers. Whatever you are, I can see that you have not completely discovered your power. It is not bottled up within you. It is something you need to build up. To defeat your mother with any honor, you could go back and die. It would not be frowned upon, though, if I were to aid you."

She gritted her teeth. Her breathing sounded horrible for the blood in her lungs. "What do you propose I do?"

"You may use the Tokejin."

Instantly she hissed and flung herself to the side. "NO!"

Absently and for no reason, Sesshomaru flung his sword into the trees. Then he was standing over the girl. "Then, accept some of my aura to protect you."

Before she could react, Sesshomaru had pressed the palm of his hand firmly to the nape of her neck, pressing her gently into his chest. She was too weak to have any resistance. The thing that flowed through her was slightly rapturous, but only because of the idea of what it was. It very much was Sesshomaru's aura. She felt it forming a shield around her and mixing with the turquoise energy. Unconsciously, she fell limp against him. She didn't know it, but he was smiling sadly.

The event didn't last long. Sesshomaru held her at arm's length and said harshly, "Kill her."

She nodded grimly and then ran. Her speed created a high-pitched sound. "ONIGEN!"

"Hah, Lola!" That was all her mother had time to say before Lola was breaking ribs and obliterating an arm with an incredible kick. She spun in midair and plunged her claws into the woman's chest. After a half a second, she ripped out the poisonous knives that were her fingers. Onigen spewed blood. She coughed and more blood exploded from within her chest.

Meanwhile, the tail was attacking again and again. Sesshomaru's shield zapped it every time until it stopped.

Looking like a corpse already, Onigen glared sideways at Lola. Lola would allow her mother no words. "RAAAAAH!" She pounced. Her fist shattered her mother's face. Onigen's claws – which would have shredded Lola in midair – stopped short of Lola's ribs. The aura screamed like an electric storm, so close to its enemy. And Lola felt something snap within Onigen. The woman began to sputter.

As Onigen was dying she was crying. "Lola, this man has earned the right to be the next Onigen. Not you. How could you let him shield you like this?"

Lola smirked. "That's none of your concern, Mother."

And Lola let the old Onigen die without knowing the fate of her throne, to scream in hell as the new Onigen had promised.

Lola's smirk faded with Onigen's life. She leaned to roll away from the corpse. Her mother let off a horrible poison as she turned to dust. Sesshomaru's aura kept Lola from dying as a result of it. She coughed once and then was limp, staring up at the sky.

She sensed Sesshomaru standing at the edge of the forest, reunited with his sword.

Kagome and Lola talked on the balcony illuminated by torches. The talk was nearly meaningless compared to the battle waging inside Lola. When Inuyasha joined them, heavily bandaged and tired, Lola left unexpectedly. He looked after her, confused. Kagome just smiled at her love and he held her.

Lola found Sesshomaru, Rin, Jaken, and Shippo sitting around a giant tray of food. The later three were digging in. Sesshomaru was smiling his half-smile in response to their jokes.

"Sesshomaru? I need to speak with you," she said softly. The quiet voice made din silent.

Sesshomaru had not looked at her when she had walked up. He did not look at her when he nodded. He looked at the ground when he exited with her and walked down the hall.

"I don't care that I didn't defeat Onigen alone. I want to thank you. I hold no grudge. I will allow you the title if you wish. I am only thankful that you have freed me." Those words took every bit of her courage and strength. To stop the flood of pain, she told herself again that most of the Jaguar subjects that she could have ruled were a waste of her time or dead.

Sesshomaru looked back at her, finally, and his eyes again spoke volumes. "Don't speak yet." He led her out of the mountain through the way they had come. Then he transformed.

Lola looked at his expectant form curiously and transformed as well. He nodded at her. They ran with demonic speed back to the lake where Lola had awoken that morning. They made amazing time – only an hour. That was much less than the first journey, which had taken four hours.

Sesshomaru became his other beautiful self. Again Lola marveled at his appearance next to the lake with the stars, moon, and fireflies reflecting their light on him from all angles. He sat down without inviting Lola, leaning back on his arm. She changed and sat with him anyway.

After a few moments, Sesshomaru did a strange thing. He extended his legs to wet his feet. What an odd move on his part. Lola did not wet her own feet; she crossed her legs and cocked her head.

"Do you recall telling me about that other continent? Not the Continent, but the other one?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"Neither one of us are really befit to rule a small, unruly pack of Jaguar-Demons. We both have much evil in our hearts. Much hatred. But we do not desire to spend time with one-minded creatures bent on following us. We would rather find our own way, right?"

Lola paused, taking it in. "I suppose."

"Then why not come with me to that other continent? The journey will be short for Onigen. You could come back whenever you wanted to, and return whenever you pleased."

Lola sighed. This was as painful as passing on her title. "You are correct. I hate traveling in packs. I hate many, many things. So why are you offering that I go with you?"

Sesshomaru turned to Lola and the look she saw in his eyes was much clearer than it had been beforehand. "Can't you picture two strong demons, a little elfin thing, and a young human girl parading around a nearly-deserted, huge forest? With all of the power in the world between the two of them, but no one with which to fight? And if we ever felt like killing, we could just go back to Japan and wreck havoc."

Lola smiled at his description of Jaken. "There are demons everywhere."

"True. But we never have to see them. I, too, have heard of this continent. Where there are almost no humans there must be very few demons. They will learn quickly to leave us be."

"I think I'd rather stay with people I know and for whom I care. Like Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippo. Sango and I get along well when she comes to town."

Sesshomaru knew she was prodding now. He had a mischievous grin. "Don't you care for me?"

Lola smiled and Sesshomaru melted. Her hair looked like the water touched by the moon. "I cannot truly care for a man who could have been a part of the living hell of my young self. You were supposed to be my prince and choose me over my mother. And you didn't. You abandoned me."

"I know. And I'm sorry. It destroyed me when I … I heard you died, you know. I had been planning to save you, to steal you away and protect you."

"But I knew, seeing you when I did, that you were not even able to protect yourself. I felt sorry for you, who was as trapped as I was. Sesshomaru, you were cold. Your life was cruel."

"I know. I've grown capable, though. I'm not perfect, but I wish you would risk it."

Lola frowned and sighed. Abruptly Sesshomaru sat up. "What if I do care for you? What if I fall for you? I've done that before. I loved you."

He wouldn't allow himself to say it, but he had loved her as well. Even if it was in a twisted way. "This time I can protect you and myself."

Lola was apprehensive.

"We have both been tortured and confined and refined. I want to help you expand. You've always been oppressed. There have always been expectations. I want to break them for you! I want you to break out as the demon you are!" Sesshomaru sounded as if he was on the brink of begging. "I can't help but care for you. So much it hurts. I am going to help you. I don't want to mold you. I won't ever confine you. I will never see you take an order. I will never see you think you have to be something different. I just want you to breathe. And I know that those feelings don't stop after your parents die. I understand. But I can help. I can do this now."

"You're right. She's dead." Just like that, the dam opened and Lola sat forward, crying out all of her pain and sorrow. "She's changed me, Sesshomaru. She changed me. I don't know if I can ever be rid of her. I am empty."

Sesshomaru sat forward, too, and watched her tears make tiny ripples in the lake. He knew it was wrong. He likely only loved this intolerable girl because it was once expected of him, but still. He loved her. He felt so good when protecting her. And he loved Rin, too. But he put his arm around Lola and held her against him. She cried.

"You aren't empty and you can be rid of her. Today, you refilled yourself. Today, you abandon her. Know that I am the only one who is watching you now, and my eyes are caring. Now you can do whatever you want."

"Thank you, Sesshomaru. You saved me."

"I'm not sure that you didn't kill and then revive me, too."

-Fin-

* * *

That was the last chappie, folks! I hope that the huge gaps of waiting between chapters didn't cost me too much when it comes to fans. I believe that this story was pretty good and it was well-polished. :) This is probably my last FanFiction for another year or less. Please at least review the last chapter, peoples!

I inform you that I have a DeviantArt page where I post fan art and whatnot. :) You should pay a visit. I am no Picasso but still... (Because of the policy on this site, links are not allowed. Here is my user name instead: Mariah-Bryant.)


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